C| \t  Sflitfjjmt  (& psoplm 


PUBLISHED  MONTHLY. 


Yol.  YII.]  CHARLESTON,  FEBRUARY,  1861.  [No.  11. 


OZESXjXj^T^TE!  ous  - 


As  this  department  of  our  Periodical  is  open  to  the  discussion  of  religious  questions 
the  Editors  must  not  be  considered  responsible  for  the  sentiments  expressed 
therein. 


THE  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF 
ABOLITIONISM. 


SERMON  PREACHED  IN  THE  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 
OF  BROOKLYN,  LAST  EVENING,  BY  REV. 

HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKE. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church,  corner  of  Remson  and  Clin¬ 
ton  streets,  Brooklyn,  (says  the  New  York  Herald  of  Monday, 
the  10th  December  last,)  was  densely  crowded  last  evening  with 
a  highly  intelligent  congregation,  who  listened  with  marked 
interest  and  attention  to  a  discourse  from  their  pastor,  Rev. 
Henry  J.  Van  Dyke,  on  the  Character  and  Influence  of  Abo¬ 
litionism,  from  a  scriptural  point  of  view.  In  his  opening  sup¬ 
plication,  the  reverend  gentleman  prayed  that  Providence 
would  bless  our  Southern  brethren,  and  restrain  the  passion 
of  the  evil  among  them  ;  that  the  master  might  be  made 
Christ’s  servant,  and  the  servant  Christ’s  freeman,  and  so 
both  sit  together  united  in  Christian  love,  in  that  Church 
founded  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  in  which  there  is  neither 
Greek  nor  Jew,  male  nor  female,  bond  nor  free,  but  all  are 
one  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  also  prayed  that  God  would  bless 
the  people  of  the  Northern  States,  restrain  the  violence  of  fa¬ 
natical  men,  provide  for  those  who,  by  the  agitation  of  the 
times  have  been  thrown  out  of  employment,  keep  the  speaker 
himself  from  teaching  anything  that  was  not  in  accordance 
with  the  Divine  will,  and  disabuse  the  minus  of  his  hearers  of 
all  prejudice  and  passion,  so  that  they  might  be  willing  to  be 
convinced  of  the  truth. 

VOL.  VII.— ^No.  1L 


71 


564 


Miscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


His  text  was  chosen  Paul’s  First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  sixth 
chapter,  from  the  first  to  the  fifth  verse,  inclusive  : 

1.  Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under  the  yoke  count  their  own 
masters  worthy  of  all  honor,  that  the  name  of  God  and  His  doc¬ 
trine  he  not  blasphemed. 

2.  And  they  that  have  believing  masters  let  them  not  despise 
them,  because  they  are  brethren  ;  but  rather  do  them  service,  be¬ 
cause  they  are  faithful  and  beloved  partakers  of  the  benefit. 
These  things  teach  and  exhort. 

3.  If  any  man  teach  otherwise  and  consent  not  to  wholesome 
words,  even  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  the  doc¬ 
trine  which  is  according  to  godliness, 

4.  He  is  proud,  knowing  nothing  but  doting  about  questions 
and  strife  of  words  whereof  eometli  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil  sur- 
mi  sings, 

5.  Perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  and  destitute 
of  the  truth,  supposing  that  gain  is  godliness  :  from  such  withdraw 

thvself. 

%/ 

I  propose,  he  said,  to  discuss  the  character  and  influence  of 
abolitionism.  With  this  view,  I  have  selected  a  text  from  the 
Bible,  and  propose  to  adhere  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  its 
teaching.  We  acknowledge  in  this  place  but  one  standard  of 
morals,  but  one  authoritative  and  infalible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice.  For  we  are  Christians  here  ;  not  blind  devotees  to  bow 
down  to  the  dictation  of  any  man  or  church  ;  not  heathen 
philosophers,  to  grope  our  way  by  the  feeble  glimmerings  of 
the  light  of  nature  ;  not  modern  infidels,  to  appeal  from  the 
written  law  of  God  to  the  corrupt  and  fickle  tribunal  of  reason 
and  Immunity ;  but  Christians,  on  whose  banner  is  inscribed 
this  sublime  challenge — “  To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony — 
if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because  there  is 
no  lio-ht  in  them.'5 

t j 

Let  me  direct  your  especial  attention  to  the  language  of  our 
text.  There  is  no  dispute  among  commentators,  there  is  no 
room  for  dispute  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  expression  “ser¬ 
vants  under  the  yoke.”  Even  Mr.  Barnes,  who  is  himself  a 
distinguished  abolitionist,  and  has  done  more  perhaps,  than 
any  other  man  in  this  country,  to  propogate  abolition  doctrines, 
admits  that  “the  addition  of  the  phrase  1  under  the  yoke’  ” 
shows  undoubtedly  that  it  (£.  e.  the  original  word  doulos)  is  to 
be  understood  here  of  slavery.  Let  me  quote  another  testi¬ 
mony  on  this  point  from  an  eminent  Scotch  divine,  I  mean 
Dr.  McKnight,  whose  exposition  of  the  epistle  is  a  standard 
work  in  Great  Britain  and  in  this  country,  and  whose  associa¬ 
tions  must  exempt  him  from  all  suspicion  of  pro-slavery  preju¬ 
dices.  He  introduces  his  exposition  of  this  chapter  with  the 


1861.]  Character  and  Influence  of  'Abolitionism.' 


565 


following  explanation: — “Because  tlie  law  of  Moses  allowed 
no  Israelite  to  be  made  a  slave  for  life,  without  his  own  consent, 
the  Judaizing  teachers,  to  allure  slaves  to  their  party,  taught 
that  under  the  gospel  likewise  involuntary  slavery  is  unlawful. 
This  doctrine  the  apostle  condemned  here,  as  in  his  other  epis¬ 
tles,  by  enjoining  Christian  slaves  to  honor  and  obey  their 
masters,  whether  they  were  believers  or  unbelievers,  and  by 
assuring  Timothy  that  if  any  person  taught  otherwise,  he  op¬ 
posed  the  wholesome  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  doctrine 
of  the  gospel,  which  in  all  points  is  conformable  to  godliness 
or  sound  morality,  and  was  puffed  up  with  pride  without  pos¬ 
sessing  any  true  knowledge  either  of  the  Jewish  or  Christian 
revelation.”  Our  learned  Scotch  friend  then  goes  on  to  ex¬ 
pound  the  passage  in  the  following  paraphrase,  which  we  com¬ 
mend  to  the  prayerful  attention  of  all  whom  it  may  concern. 

“  Let  whatever  Christian  slaves  are  under  the  yoke  of  unbe¬ 
lievers  pay  their  own  masters  all  respect  and  obedience,  that 
the  character  of  God  whom  we  worship  may  not  be  calumni¬ 
ated,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  may  not  be  evil  spoken 
of,  as  tending  to  destroy  the  political  rights  of  mankind.  And 
those  Christian  slaves  who  have  believing  masters,  let  them 
not  despise  them,  fancying  that  they  are  their  equals  because 
they  are  their  brethren  in  Christ;  for,  though  all  Christians 
are  equal  as  to  religious  privileges,  slaves  are  inferior  to  their 
masters  in  station.  Wherefore,  let  them  serve  their  masters 
more  diligently,  because  they  who  enjoy  the  benefit  of  their 
service  are  believers  and  beloved  of  God.  These  things 
teach,  and  exhort  the  brethren  to  practice  them.  If  any  one 
teach  differently  by  affirming  that  under  the  gospel  slaves  are 
not  bound  to  serve  their  masters,  but  ought  to  be  made  free, 
and  does  not  consent  to  the  wholesome  commandments  which 
are  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ’s,  and  to  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel 
which  in  all  points  is  conformable  to  true  morality,  he  is  puff¬ 
ed  up  with  pride  and  knoweth  nothing  either  of  the  Jewish  or 
Christian  revelations,  though  he  pretends  to  have  great  knowl¬ 
edge  of  both.  But  is  distempered  in  his  mind  about  idle 
questions  and  debates  of  words  which  afford  no  foundation  for 
such  a  doctrine,  but  are  the  source  of  envy,  contention,  evil¬ 
speaking,  unjust  suspicion  that  the  truth  is  not  sincerely  main¬ 
tained,  keen  disputings  carried  on  contrary  to  conscience,  by 
men  wholly  corrupt  in  their  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  true 
doctrine  of  the  gospel,  who  reckon  whatever  produces  the  most 
money  is  the  best  religion  ;  from  all  such  impious  teachers 
withdraw  thyself,  and  do  not  dispute  with  them.” 

The  text,  as  thus  expounded  by  an  American  abolitionist 


566 


Miscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


and  a  Scotch  divine,  (whose  testimony  need  not  be  confirmed 
by  quotations  from  all  the  other  commentators,)  is  a  prophecy 
written  for  these  days,  and  wonderfully  applicable  to  our  pre¬ 
sent  circumstances.  It  gives  us  a  life-like  picture  of  aboli¬ 
tionism  in  its  principles,  its  spirit  and  its  practice,  and  furnish¬ 
es  us  plain  instruction  in  regard  to  our  duty  in  the  premises. 
Before  entering  upon  the  discussion  of  the  doctrine,  let  us 
define  the  terms  employed.  By  abolitionism  we  mean  the 
principles  and  meaures  of  abolitionists.  And  what  is  an  aboli¬ 
tionist  ?  He  is  one  who  believes  that  slaveholding  is  sin, 
and  ouodit  therefore  to  be  abolished.  This  is  the  fundamen- 
tal,  the  characteristic,  the  essential  principal  of  abolitionism — 
that  slave  holding  is  a  sin — that  holding  men  in  involuntary 
servitude  is  an  infringement  upon  the  rights  of  man,  a  heni- 
ous  crime  in  the  sight  of  God.  A  man  may  believe  on  politi¬ 
cal  or  commercial  grounds  that  slavery  is  an  undesirable  sys¬ 
tem,  and  that  slave  labor  is  not  the  most  profitable ;  he  may 
have  various  views  as  to  the  rights  of  slaveholders  under  the  con¬ 
stitution  of  the  country  ;  he  may  think  this  or  that  law  upon  the 
statute  books  of  Southern  States  is  wrong  ;  but  this  does  not  con¬ 
stitute  him  an  abolitionist ;  to  be  entitled  to  that  name  he  must 
believe  that  slaveholding  is  morally  wrong.  The  alleged  sinful¬ 
ness  of  slaveholdino*,  as  it  is  the  characteristic  doctrine,  so  it  is  the 
strength  of  abolitionism  in  all  its  ramified  and  various  forms.  It  is 
by  this  doctrine  that  it  lays  hold  upon  the  hearts  and  consci¬ 
ences  of  men,  that  it  comes  as  a  disturbing  force  into  our  ec¬ 
clesiastical  and  civil  institutions,  and  by  exciting  religious  ani¬ 
mosity  (which  all  history  proves  to  be  the  strongest  of  human 
passions,)  imparts  a  peculiar  intensity  to  every  contest  into 
which  it  enters.  And  you  will  perceive  it  is  just  here  that 
abolitionism  presents  a  proper  subject  for  discussion  in  the 
pulpit — for  it  is  one  great  purpose  of  the  Bible,  and  therefore 
one  great  duty  of  God’s  ministers  in  its  exposition,  to  show 
what  is  sin  and  what  is  not.  Those  who  hold  the  doctrine  that 
slaveholding  is  sin,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  abolished,  differ 
very  much  in  the  extent  in  which  they  reduce  their  theory  to 
practice.  In  some,  this  faith  is  almost  without  works.  They 
content  themselves  with  only  voting  in  such  a  way  as  in  their 
judgment  will  best  promote  the  ultimate  triumph  of  their 
views.  Others  stand  off  at  what  they  suppose  a  safe  distance, 
as  Shimei  did  when  he  stood  on  an  opposite  hill  to  curse  King 
David,  and  rebuke  the  sin  and  denounce  divine  judgment  upon 
the  sinner.  Others  more  practical,  if  not  more  prudent,  go 
into  the  very  midst  of  the  alledged  wickedness,  and  teach 
servants  under  the  yoke”  that  they  ought  not  to  count  their 


1861.]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism. 


5  67 


own  masters  worthy  of  all  honor — that  liberty  is  their  inalien¬ 
able  right — which  they  should  maintain,  if  necessary,  even  by 
shedding  of  blood.  Now,  it  is  not  for  me  to  decide  who  of  all 
these  are  the  truest  to  their  own  principles.  It  is  not  for  me 
to  decide  whether  the  man  who  preaches  this  doctrine  in 
brave  words  amid  applauding  multitudes  in  the  city  of  Brook¬ 
lyn,  or  the  one  who  in  the  stillness  of  the  night  and  in  the 
face  of  the  law’s  terrors  goes  to  practice  the  preaching  at 
Harper’s  Ferry,  is  the  most  consistent  abolitionist  and  the 
most  heroic  man.  It  is  not  for  me  to  decide  which  is  the  most 
important  part  of  a  tree  ;  and  if  the  tree  be  poisonous,  which 
is  the  most  injurious,  the  root,  or  the  branches,  or  the  fruit? 
But  I  am  here  to-night  in  God’s  name,  and  by  His  help,  to 
show  that  this  tree  of  abolitionism  is  evil  and  only  evil,  root 
and  branch,  flower  and  leaf  and  fruit  ;  that  it  springs  from 
and  is  nourished  by  an  utter  rejection  of  the  Scriptures ;  that 
it  produces  no  real  benefit  to  the  enslaved,  and  is  the  fruitful 
source  of  division  and  strife,  and  infidelity,  in  both  church  and 
State.  I  have  four  distinct  propositions  on  the  subject  to  main¬ 
tain — four  theses  to  nail  up  over  this  pulpit  and  defend,  with  the 
Word  of  God  which  is  the  Word  of  the  Spirit : 

I.  Abolitionism  has  no  foundation  in  the  Scriptures. 

II.  Its  principles  liave  been  promulgated  chiefly  by  misrep¬ 
resentation  and  abuse. 

III.  It  leads,  in  multitudes  of  cases,  and  by  a  logical  pro¬ 
cess,  to  utter  infidelity. 

IV.  It  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  strife  that  agitates,  and  the 
danger  that  threatens  our  country. 

I. — ABOLITIONISM  HAS  NO  FOUNDATION  IN  SCRIPTURE. 

Passing  by  the  records  of  the  patriarchal  age,  and  waving 
the  question  as  to  those  servants  in  Abraham’s  family,  who, 
in  the  simple  but  expressive  language  of  Scripture,  “were 
bought  with  his  money,”  let  us  come  at  once  to  the  tribunal 
of  that  law  which  God  promulgated  amid  the  solemnities  of 
Sinai.  What  said  the  law  and  the  testimony  to  that  peculiar 
people  over  whom  God  ruled,  and  for  whose  institutions  He 
lias  assumed  the  responsibility?  The  answrer  is  in  the  25th 
chapter  of  Leviticus,  in  these  words: 

“And  if  thy  brother  that  dwelleth  by  thee  be  waxen  poor, 
and  be  sold  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  not  compel  him  to  serve  as 
a  bond  servant ;  but  as  a  hired  servant  and  a  sojourner  he 
shall  be  with  thee,  and  shall  serve  thee  unto  the  year  of  jubi¬ 
lee,  and  then  shall  he  depart  from  thee,  both  he  and  his  chil¬ 
dren  with  him.” 

So  far,  you  will  observe,  the  law  refers  to  the  children  of 


Miscellaneous , 


[Feb. 


0C8 


Israel,  who,  by  reason  of  poverty,  were  reduced  to  servitude. 
It  was  their  right  to  be  free  at  the  year  of  jubilee,  unless  they 
chose  to  remain  in  perpetual  bondage,  •  for  which  case  provi¬ 
sion  is  made  in  other  and  distinct  enactments.  But  not  so 
with  slaves  of  foreign  birth.  There  was  no  year  of  jubilee 
provided  for  them.  For  what  says  the  law?  Bead  the  44- 
46  verses  of  the  same  chapter  : 

“  Both  thy  bondmen  and  thy  bondmaids  which  thou  shalt 
have  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you.  Of 
them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen  and  bondmaids.  Moreover,  of 
the' children  of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn  among  you — of 
them  shall  ye  buy  and  of  their  families  that  are  with  you, 
which  they  beget  in  your  land ;  and  they  shall  be  your  pos¬ 
session.  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your 
children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  as  a  possession;  they  shail 
be  your  bondmen  forever,” 

There  it  is,  plainly  written  in  the  divine  law.  No  legisla¬ 
tive  enactment;  no  statute  framed  by  legal  skill  was  ever 
anore  explicit  and  incapable  of  perversion.  When  the  aboli¬ 
tionist  tells  me  that  slaveholding  is  sin,  in  the  simplicity  of  my 
faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  I  point  him  to  this  sacred  record, 
and  tell  him  in  all  candor,  as  my  text  does,  that  his  teaching 
blasphemes  the  name  of  G-od  and  His  doctrine.  When  he  be¬ 
gins  to  doat  about  questions  and  strifes  of  words,  appealing  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  asserting  that  the  idea 
of  property  in  men  is  an  enormity  and  a  crime,  I  still  hold  him 
to  the  record,  saying,  “  Ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance 
for  your  children,  after  you  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession.” 
When  he  waxes  warm — as  he  always  does  if  his  opponent  quote 
Scripture,  (which  is  the  great  test  to  try  the  spirits  whether 
they  be  of  God— the  very  spear  of  Ithuriel  to  reveal  their  true 
character) — when  he  gets  angry,  and  begins  to  pour  out  his 
evil  surmisings  and  abuse  upon  slaveholders — I  obey  the  pre¬ 
cept  which  says,  “from  such  withdraw  thyself;”  comforting 
myself  with  this  thought,  that  the  wisdom  of  God  is  wiser  than 
men,  and  the  kindness  of  God  kinder  than  men.  Philosophers 
may  reason  and  reformers  may  rave  till  doomsday,  they  never 
can  convince  me  that  God,  in  the  Levitical  law,  or  in  any  other 
law,  sanctioned  sin  ;  and  as  I  know,  from  the  plain  passage  I 
have  quoted,  and  many  more  like  it,  that  He  did  sanction 
slaveholding  among  his  ancient  people,  I  know,  also,  by  the 
logic  of  that  faith  which  believes  the  Bible  to  be  His  Word, 
that  slaveholding  is  not  sin.  There  are  men  even  among  pro¬ 
fessing  Christians,  and  not  a  few  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  who 
■answer  this  argument  from  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  by  a 


1S6L]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism. 


5  GO 


simple  denial  of  tlieir  authority.  They  do  not  tell  us  how  God 
could  ever  or  anywhere  countenance  that  which  is  morally 
wrong,  but  they  content  themselves  with  saying  that  the  Lev  id¬ 
eal  law  is  no  rule  of  action  for  us,  and  they  appeal  from  its 
decisions  to  what  they  consider  the  higher  tribunal  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel.  Let  us,  therefore,  join  issue  with  them  before  the  bar  of 
the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  It  is  a  historical  truth,  ac¬ 
knowledged  on  all  hands,  that  at  the  advent  of  Jesus  Christ, 
slavery  existed  all  over  the  civilized  world,  and  was  intimately 
interwoven  with  its  social  and  civil  institutions.  In  Judea,  in 
Asia  Minor,  in  Greece,  in  all  the  countries  where  the  Saviour 
or  his  Apostles  preached  the  Gospel,  slaveholding  was  just  as 
common  as  it  is  to-day  in  South  Carolina.  It  is  not  alledged 
by  any  one,  or  at  least  by  any  one  having  any  pretensions  to 
scholarship  or  candor,  that  the  Boman  laws  regulating  slavery 
were  even  as  mild  as  the  very  worst  statues  which  have  been 
passed  upon  the  subject  in  modern  times.  It  will  not  be  de¬ 
nied  by  any  honest  and  well  informed  man,  that  modern  civili¬ 
zation  and  the  restraining  influences  of  the  Gospel,  have 
shed  ameliorating  influences  upon  the  relation  between  master 
and  slave,  which  was  utterly  unknown  at  the  advent  of  Christi¬ 
anity.  And  how  did  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  treat  this  subject  ? 
Masters  and  slaves  met  them  at  every  step  in  their  missionary 
work,  and  were  present  in  every  audience  in  which  they 
preached.  The  Boman  law  'which  gave  the  full  power  of  life 
and  death  into  the  master’s  hand,  was  familiar  to  them,  and  all 
the  evils  connected  with  the  system  surrounded  them  every 
day  as  obviously  as  the  light  of  heaven  ;  and  yet  it  is  a  remar¬ 
kable  fact,  which  the  abolitionist  does  not,  because  he  cannot 
deny,  that  the  New  Testament  is  utterly  silent  in  regard  to  the 
alledo-ed  sinfulness  of  slaveholdino\  In  all  the  instructions  of 

o  o 

the  Saviour — in  all  the  reported  sermons  of  the  inspired  Apos¬ 
tles — in  all  the  epistles  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
write  for  the  instructions  of  coming  generatioiis — there  is  not 
one  distinct  and  explicit  denunciation  of  slaveholding,  nor  one 
precept  reqniring  the  master  to  emancipate  his  slaves.  Every 
acknowledged  sin  is  openly  and  repeatedly  condemned  and  in 
unmeasured  terms.  Drunkenness  and  adultery,  theft  and 
murder — all  the  moral  wrongs  which  ever  have  been  known  to 
afflict  society,  are  forbidden  by  name ;  and  yet,  according  to 
the  teaching  of  abolitionism,  this  greatest  of  all  sins — this  sum 
of  all  villanies — is  never  spoken  of  except  in  respectful  terms. 
How  can  this  be  accounted  for? 

Let  Dr.  Wayland,  whose  work  on  moral  science  is  taught  in 
many  of  our  schools,  answer  this  question,  and  let  parents  whose 


570 


Miscellaneous . 


[Feb. 


children  are  studying  that  book  diligently,  consider  his  answer. 
I  quote  from  Wayland’s  Moral  Science,  page  213: 

“The  Gospel  was  designed  not  for  one  race  or  for  one  time, 
but  for  all  races  and  for  all  times.  It  looked  not  to  the  aboli¬ 
tion  of  slavery  for  that  age  alone,  but  for  its  univeral  abolition. 
Hence  the  important  object  of  its  author  was  to  gain  for  it  a 
lodgment  in  every  part  of  the  known  world,  so  that  by  its  uni¬ 
versal  diffusion  among  all  classes  of  society,  it  might  quietly 
and  peacefully  modify  and  subdue  the  evil  passions  of  men.  In 
this  manner  alone  could  its  object — a  universal  moral  revolu¬ 
tion — have  been  accomplished.  For  if  it  had  forbidden  the 
evil,  instead  of  subverting  the  principle  ;  if  it  had  proclaimed 
the  unlawfulness  of  slavery  and  taught  slaves  to  resist  the  op¬ 
pression  of  their  masters,  it  would  instantly  have  arrayed  the 
two  parties  in  deadly  hostility  throughout  the  civilized  world ; 
its  announcement  would  have  been  the  signal  of  servile  war, 
and  the  very  name  of  the  Christian  religion  would  have  been 
forgotten  amidst  the  agitation  of  universal  bloodshed.  The  fact 
under  these  circumstances  that  the  gospel  does  not  forbid 
slavery,  affords  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  does  not  mean  to 
prohibit  it.” 

We  pause  not  now  to  comment  upon  the  admitted  fact  that 
the  gospel  does  not  forbid  slavery,  and  that  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  Apostles  pursued  a  course  entirely  different  from 
that  adopted  by  the  abolitionists,  including  the  learned 
author  himself,  nor  to  inquire  whether  the  teaching  of  abo¬ 
litionism  is  not  as  likely  to  produce  strife  and  bloodshed  in 
these  days,  as  in  the  first  ages  of  the  church.  What  we  now 
call  attention  to  and  protest  against,  is  the  imputation  here 
cast  upon  Christ  and  His  Apostles.  Do  you  believe  the  Sa¬ 
viour  sought  to  insinuate  his  religion  into  the  earth  by  conceal¬ 
ing  its  real  design,  and  preserving  a  profound  silence  in  regard 
of  one  of  the  very  worst  sins  it  came  to  destroy?  Do  you  be¬ 
lieve  that  wh&n  He  healed  the  centurion’s  servant,  (whom 
every  honest  commentator  admits  to  have  been  a  slave,)  and 
pronounced  that  precious  eulogy  upon  the  master,  “  I  have 
not  seen  so  great  faith  in  Israel” — do  you  believe  that  Jesus 
suffered  that  man  to  live  on  in  sin  because  he  depreceated  the 
consequences  of  preaching  abolitionism?  When  Paul  stood 
upon  Mars’  hill,  surrounded  by  ten  thousand  times  as  many 
slaveholders  as  they  were  idols  in  the  city,  do  you  believe  that 
he  kept  back  any  part  of  the  requirements  of  the  gospel,  be¬ 
cause  he  was  afraid  of  a  tumult  among  the  people?  We  ask 
these  abolition  philosophers  whether,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  idola¬ 
try  and  the  vices  connected  with  it,  were  not  even  more  inti- 


1861.]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism. 


571 


mately  interwoven  with  the  social  and  civil  life  of  the  Roman 
empire,  than  slavery  was  ?  Did  the  Apostles  abstain  from 
preaching  against  idolatry  ?  Nay,  who  does  not  know  that  by 
denouncing  this  sin  they  brought  down  upon  themselves  the 
whole  power  of  the  Roman  empire?  Nero  covered  Chris¬ 
tian  martyrs  with  pitch  and  lighted  up  the  city  with 
their  burning  bodies,  just  because  they  would  not  with¬ 
hold  or  compromise  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  worship  of  idols. 
In  the  light  of  that  fierce  persecution  it  is  a  profane  trifling 
for  Dr.  Wayland  or  any  other  man  to  tell  us  that  Jesus  or  Paul 
held  back  their  honest  opinions  of  slavery,  in  order  to  avoid  “  a 
servile  war,  in  which  the  very  name  of  the  Christian  religion 
would  have  been  forgotten.”  The  name  of  the  Christian  religion 
is  not  so  easily  forgotten  ;  nor  are  God’s  great  purposes  of  re¬ 
demption  capable  of  being  defeated  by  an  honest  declaration 
of  His  truth  everywhere  and  at  all  times.  And  yet  this  phil¬ 
osophy  so  dishonoring  to  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  is  moulding 
the  character  of  our  young  men  and  women.  It  comes  into 
our  schools  and  mingles  with  the  very  lifeblood  of  future  gene¬ 
rations,  the  sentiment  that  Christ  and  his  Apostles  held  back 
the  truth,  and  suffered  sin  to  go  unrebuked  for  fear  of  the 
wrath  of  man.  And  all  this  to  maintain,  at  all  hazards,  and 
in  the  face  of  the  Saviour’s  example  to  the  contrary,  the  un- 
scriptural  dogma  that  slaveholding  is  sin.  But  it  must  be 
observed  in  this  connection,  that  the  Apostles  went  much  fur¬ 
ther  than  to  abstain  from  preaching  against  slaveholding. 
They  admitted  slaveholders  to  the  communion  of  the  church. 
In  our  text,  masters  are  acknowledged  as  “  brethren,  faithful 
and  beloved,  partakers  of  the  benefit.”  If  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  is  to  be  received  as  a  faithful  history,  no  man  wras  ever 
rejected  by  the  apostolic  church  upon  the  ground  that  be 
owned  slaves.  If  he  abused  his  powers  as  a  master,  if  he 
availed  himself  of  the  authority  conferred  by  the  Roman  law, 
to  commit  adultery,  or  murder,  or  cruelty,  he  was  rejected  for 
these  crimes,  just  as  he  would  be  rejected  now  for  similar 
crimes  from  any  Christian  church  in  our  Southern  States.  If 
parents  abused  or  neglected  their  children,  they  were  censur¬ 
ed,  not  for  having  children,  but  for  not  treating  them  proper¬ 
ly.  And  so  with  the  slaveholder.  It  was  not  the  owning  of 
slaves,  but  the  manner  in  which  he  fulfilled  the  duties  ol  his 
station,  that  made  him  a  subject  for  church  discipline.  The 
mere  fact  that  he  was  a  slaveholder,  no  more  subjected  him  to 
censure  than  the  mere  fact  that  he  was  a  father  or  husband.  It  is 
obviously  upon  the  recognized  lawfulness  of  the  relation  that  all 
the  precepts  regulating  the  reciprocal  duties  of  that  relation 
are  based.  72 


Miscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


These  precepts  are  scattered  all  through  the  inspired  epis¬ 
tles.  There  is  not  one  command  or  exhortation  to  emanci¬ 
pate  the  slave.  The  Apostle  well  knew  that  for  the  present, 
emancipation  would  be  no  real  blessing  to  him.  But  the  mas¬ 
ter  is  exhorted  to  be  kind  and  considerate,  and  the  slave  to 
be  obedient,  that  so  they  might  preserve  the  unity  of  that 
church  in  which  their  is  no  distinction  between  Greek  or  Jew, 
male  or  female,  bond  or  free.  Oh,  if  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
in  this  land  and  age,  had  but  followed  Paul  as  he  followed 
Christ,  and,  instead  of  hurling  anathemas  and  exciting  wrath 
against  slaveholders,  had  sought  only  to  bring  both  master 
and  slave  to  the  fountain  of  EmanuePs  blood  ;  if  tho  agencies 
of  the  blessed  Gospel  had  only  been  suffered  to  work  their 
way  quietly,  as  the  light  and  dew  of  the  morning,  into  the 
structure  of  society,  both  North  and  South,  how  different 
would  have  been  the  position  of  our  country  this  day  before 
God  !  How  different  would  have  been  the  privileges  enjoyed 
by  the  poor  black  man’s  soul,  which,  in  this  bitter  contest;  has 
been  too  much  neglected  and  despised.  Then  there  would 
have  been  no  need  to  have  converted  our  churches  into  mili¬ 
tary  barracks,  for  collecting  firearms  to  carry  on  war  upon  a 
distant  frontier.  No  need  for  a  sovereign  State  to  excute  the 
fearful  penalty  of  the  law  upon  the  invader,  for  doing  no  more 
than  honestly  to  carry  out  the  teaching  of  abolition  preachers, 
who  bind  heavy  burdens,  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay 
them  on  men’s  shoulders,  while  they  touch  them  not  with  one 
of  their  fingers.  No  need  for  the  widow  and  the  orphan  to 
weep  in  anguish  of  heart  over  those  cold  graves,  for  whose 
dishonor  and  desolation  God  will  hold  the  real  authors  res¬ 
ponsible.  No  occasion  or  pretext  for  slaveholding  States  to 
pass  such  stringent  laws  for  the  punishment  of  the  secret  in¬ 
cendiary,  and  the  prevention  of  servile  war. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  show  what  will  be  the  condition  of 
the  African  race  in  this  country,  when  the  Gospel  shall  have 
brought  all  classes  under  its  complete  dominion.  What  civil 
and  social  relations  men  will  sustain  in  the  time  of  millenial 
glory,  I  do  not  know.  I  cordially  incline  to  the  current  opin¬ 
ion  of  our  church,  that  slavery  is  permitted  and  regulated  by 
the  divine  law  under  both  the  Jewish  and  Christian  dispensa¬ 
tions,  not  as  the  final  destiny  of  the  enslaved,  but  as  an  im¬ 
portant  and  necessary  process  in  their  transition  from  heathen¬ 
ism  to  Christianity — -a  wheel  in  the  great  machinery  of  Provi¬ 
dence,  by  which  the  final  redemption  is  to  be  accomplished. 
However,  this  may  be,  one  thing  I  know,  and  every  abolition¬ 
ist  might  know  it  if  he  would,  that  there  are  Christian  families 


1  SGI  ]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism.  573 

at  the  South,  in  vyliich  a  patriarchal  fidelity  and  affection  sub¬ 
sist  between  the  bond  and  the  free,  and  where  slaves  are  bet¬ 
ter  fed  and  clothed  and  instructed,  and  have  a  better  opportu¬ 
nity  for  salvation,  than  the  majority  of  laboring  people  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  If  the  tongue  of  abolitionism  had  only 
kept  silence  these  twenty  years  past,  the  number  of  such  fami¬ 
lies  would  be  tenfold  as  great.  Fanaticism  at  the  North  is  one 
chief  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  the  Gospel  at  the  South. 
This  is  one  great  grievance  that  presses  to-day  upon  the  hearts 
of  our  Christian  brethren  in  the  Southern  States.  This,  in 
a  measure  explains  why  such  men  as  Dr.  Thornwell  of  South 
-Carolina,  Dr.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans — men  whose  genius  and 
learning  and  piety,  would  adorn  any  State  or  station — are  will¬ 
ing  to  secede  from  the  Union.  They  feel  that  the  influence  of 
the  Christian  ministry  is  hindered,  and  their  power  to  do  good 
to  both  master  and  slave  crippled,  by  the  constant  agitations 
of  abolitionism  in  our  national  councils,  and  the  incessant  tur¬ 
moil  excited  by  the  unscriptural  dogma  that  slaveholding  is 
sin.  They  hope  that  under  some  other  government  they  may 
have  that  peace  for  the  prosecution  of  their  Master’s  work, 
which  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  has  hitherto  failed 
to  secure  for  them.  Whatever  I  may  think  of  secession  as  a 
remedy  for  the  evils  complained  of,  in  my  heart  I  do  not  blame 
them.  My  soul  is  knit  to  such  men  with  the  sympathy  of 
Jonathan  for  David.  Whatever  be  the  result  of  this  contest, 
the  union  between  their  hearts  and  mine,  cemented  by  the 
Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  can  never  be  dissolved.  Earth  and 
hell  cannot  dissolve  it.  Though  my  lot  is  cast  in  a  colder 
clime,  yet  in  the  outgoings  of  that  warm  affection  to  which 
space  is  nothing,  I  will  ever  say,  “  Entreat  me  not  to  leave 
tliee,  for  your  people  will  be  my  people,  and  your  God  my. 
God  and  though  we  may  be  separated  in  body  for  a  while 
by  the  dark  gulf  of  political  disunion,  and  by  the  absorbing 
strife  for  which  every  sound  man  at  the  North  will  soon  be 
called  upon  to  gird  himself — the  long,  long  rest  of  eternity, 
will  afford  abundant  opportunity  for  the  interchange  of  our 
mutual  charities. 

II. — THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  ABOLITIONISM  HAVE  BEEN  PROPA¬ 
GATED  CHIEFLY  BY  MISREPRESENTATION  AND  ABUSE. 

Having  no  foundation  in  Scripture,  it  does  not  carry  on  its 
warfare  by  Scripture  weapons.  Its  prevailing  spirit  is  fierce 
and  proud,  and  its  language  is  full  of  wrath  and  bitterness. 
Let  me  prove  this  by  testimony  from  its  own  lips.  1  quote 


574 


Miscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


Dr.  Channing  of  Boston,  whose  name  is  a  tower  of  strength  to 
the  abolition  cause,  and  whose  memory  is  their  continual  boast. 
In  a  work  published  in  1836,  I  find  the  following  words: 

“The  abolitionist  have  done  wrong,  I  believe  ;  nor  is  their 
wrong  to  be  winked  at,  because  done  fanatically  or  with  good 
intentions  ;  for  how  much  mischief  may  be  wrought  with  good 
designs!  They  have  fallen  into  the  common  error  of  enthusi¬ 
asts,  that  of  exaggerating  their  object,  of  feeling  as  if  no  evil 
existed  but  that  which  they  opposed,  and  as  if  no  guilt  could 
be  compared  with  that  of  countenancing  and  upholding  it.  The 
tone  of  their  newspapers,  so  far  as  I  have  seen  them,  has  often 
been  fierce,  bitter  and  abusive.  They  have  sent  forth  their 
orators,  some  of  them  transported  with  firery  zeal,  to  sound 
the  alarm  against  slavery  through  the  land,  and  to  gather  to¬ 
gether  young  and  old,  pupils  from  schools,  females  hardly  ar¬ 
rived  at  the  years  of  discretion,  the  ignorant,  the  excitable, 
the  impetuous,  and  to  organize  these  into  associations  for  the 
battle  against  oppression.  Very  unhappily  they  preached  their 
doctrine  to  the  colored  people,  and  collected  them  into  socie¬ 
ties.  To  this  mixed  and  excitable  multitude,  minute  heart¬ 
rending  descriptions  of  slavery  were  given  in  piercing  tones  of 
passion  ;  and  slaveholders  were  held  up  as  monsters  of  cruelty 
and  crime.  The  abolitionist,  indeed,  proposed  to  convert 
slaveholders;  and  for  this  end  he  approached  with  vitupera¬ 
tion,  and  exhausted  on  them  the  vocabulary  of  abuse.  And 
he  has  reaped  as  he  sowed.” 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Channing,  given  in  the  year 
1836.  What  would  he  have  thought  and  said  if  he  had  lived 
until  the  year  1860,  and  seen  this  little  stream,  over  whose  in¬ 
fant  violence  he  lamented,  swelling  into  a  torrent  and  flooding 
the  land  ?  Abolitionism  is  abusive  in  its  persistent  misrepre¬ 
sentation  of  the  legal  principles  involved  in  the  relation  be¬ 
tween  master  and  slave.  They  reiterate  in  a  thousand  exci¬ 
ting  forms,  the  assertion  that  the  idea  of  property  in  man 
blots  out  his  manhood  and  degrades  him  to  the  level  of  a 
brute  or  a  stone.  “  Domestic  Slavery,”  sajs  Dr.  Way  land,  in 
his  work  on  Moral  Science,  “supposes  at  best  that  the  relation 
between  master  and  slave  is  not  that  which  exists  between  man 
and  man,  but  is  a  modification  atleastofthat  which  exits  between 
man  and  the  brutes.”  Do  not  these  abolitionist  philosophers 
know  that  according  to  the  laws  of  every  civilized  country  on 
earth,  a  man  has  property  in  his  children,  and  a  woman  has 
property  in  her  husband  V  The  statutes  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  of  every  other  Northern  State,  recognize  and  pro¬ 
tect  this  property,  and  our  courts  of  justice  have  repeatedly 


1861.  ]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism.  575 


assessed  its  value.  If  a  man  is  killed  on  a  railroad,  his  wife 
may  bring;  suit  and  recover  damages  for  the  pecuniary  loss 
she  has  suffered.  If  one  man  entice  away  the  daughter  of 
another,  and  marry  her  while  she  is  still  under  age,  the  father 
may  bring  a  civil  suit  for  damages  for  the  loss  of  that  child’s 
services,  and  the  pecuniary  compensation  is  the  only  redress 
the  law  provides.  Thus  the  common  law  of  Christendom  and 
the  statutes  of  our  own  State  recognize  property  in  man.  In 
what  does  that  property  consist?  Simply  in  such  services  as 
a  man  or  a  child  may  properly  be  required  to  render.  This  is 
all  that  the  Levitical  law,  or  any  other  law  means,  when  it 
says,  “  Your  bondmen  shall  be  your  possession  or  property,  and 
an  inheritance  for  your  children.”  The  property  consists  not  in 
the  right  to  treat  the  slave  like  a  brute,  but  simply  in  a  legal 
claim  for  such  services  as  a  man  in  that  position  may  properly 
be  required  to  render.  And  yet  Abolitionists,  in  the  face  of 
the  Divine  law,  persist  in  denouncing  the  very  relation  be¬ 
tween  master  and  slave,  “as  a  modification  at  least,  of  that 
which  exists  between  man  and  the  brutes.”  This,  however,  is 
not  the  worst  or  most  prevalent  form  which  their  abusive  spirit 
assumes.  Their  mode  of  arguing  the  question  of  slaveholding, 
by  a  pretended  appeal  to  facts,  is  a  tissue  of  misrepresentation 
from  beginning  to  end.  Let  me  illustrate  my  meaning  by  a 
parallel  case.  Suppose  I  undertake  to  prove  the  wickedness 
of  marriage  as  it  exists  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  this  dis¬ 
cussion,  suppose  the  Bible  is  excluded,  or  at  least  that  it  is  not 
recognized  as  having  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  the  decision  of 
the  question.  My  first  appeal  is  to  the  statute  law  of  the 
State.  I  show  there  enactments  which  nullify  the  law  of  God 
and  make  divorce  a  marketable  and  cheap  commodity.  I  col¬ 
lect  the  advertisements  of  your  daily  papers,  in  which  lawyers 
offer  to  procure  the  legal  separation  of  man  and  wife  for  a 
stipulated  price,  to  say  nothing  in  this  sacred  place  of  other 
advertisements,  which  decency  forbids  me  to  quote.  Then  I  turn 
to  the  records  of  our  criminal  courts,  and  find  that  every  day 
some  cruel  husband  beats  his  wife,  or  some  unnatural  parent 
murders  his  child,  or  some  discontented  wife  or  husband  seeks 
the  dissolution  of  the  marriage  bond.  In  the  next  place,  I 
turn  to  the  orphan  asylums  and  hospitals,  and  show  there  the 
miserable  wrecks  of  domestic  tyranny,  in  wives  deserted,  and 
children  maimed  by  drunken  parents.  In  the  last  place  I  go 
through  our  streets  and  into  our  tenement  houses,  and  count 
the  thousands  of  ragged  children,  who,  amid  ignorance  and 
filth,  are  training  for  the  prison  and  gallows.  Summing  all 
these  facts  together,  I  put  them  forth  as  the  fruits  of  marriage 


57  C 


Miscellaneous . 


[Feb 


in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  a  proof  that  the  relation  itself  is 
sinful.  If  I  were  a  novelist,  and  had  written  a  book  to  illus¬ 
trate  this  same  doctrine,  I  would  call  this  array  of  facts  a 
“  Key.”  In  this  key  I  say  nothing  about  the  sweet  charities 
and  affections  that  flourish  in  ten  thousand  homes,  not  a  word 
about  the  multitude  of  loving  kindnesses  that  characterize  the 
daily  life  of  honest  people,  about  the  instruction  and  discipline 
that  are  training  children  at  ten  thousand  firesides  for  useful¬ 
ness  here  and  glory  hereafter  ;  all  this  I  ignore,  and  quote  only 
the  statute  books,  the  newspapers,  the  records  of  criminal 
courts  and  the  miseries  of  the  abode  of  poverty.  Now,  what 
have  I  done  ?  I  have  not  misstated  or  exaggerated  a  single 
fact.  And  yet  am  I  not  a  falsifier  and  slanderer  of  the  deep¬ 
est  die  ?  Is  there  a  virtuous  woman  or  an  honest  man  in  this 
city,  whose  cheeks  would  not  burn  with  indignation  at  my  one¬ 
sided  and  injurious  statements?  But,  this  is  just  what  aboli¬ 
tionism  has  done  in  regard  to  slaveholding.  It  has  undertak¬ 
en  to  illustrate  its  cardinal  doctrine  in  works  of  fiction,  and 
then,  to  sustain  the  creation  of  its  fancy,  has  attempted  to  un¬ 
derpin  it  with  an  accumulation  of  facts.  These  fact  are  col¬ 
lected  in  precisely  the  way  I  have  described.  The  statute 
books  of  slaveholding  States  are  searched,  and  every  wrong 
enactment  collated,  newspaper  reports  of  cruelty  and  crime  on 
the  part  of  wicked  masters  are  treasured  up  and  classified,  all 
the  outrages  that  have  been  perpetrated  “  by  lowed  fellows  of 
the  basser  sort,”  of  whom  they  are  plenty,  both  North  and 
South,  are  eagerly  seized  and  recorded,  and  this  mass  of  vile¬ 
ness  and  filth  collected  from  the  kennels  and  sewers  of  society, 
is  put  forth  as  a  faithful  exhibition  of  slaveholding.  Senators 
in  the  forum,  and  ministers  in  the  pulpit,  distil  this  raw  mate¬ 
rial  into  the  more  refined  slander,  “  that  Southern  society  is 
essentially  barbarous,  and  that  slaveholding  had  its  origin  in 
hell.”  Legislative  bodies  enact  and  re-enact  statutes  which 
declare  that  slaveholding  is  such  an  enormous  crime,  that  if  a 
Southern  man,  under  the  broad  shield  of  the  Constitution,  and 
with  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  country  in  his 
hand,  shall  come  within  their  jurisdiction,  and  set  up  a  claim  to 
a  fugitive  slave,  he  shall  be  punished  with  a  fine  of  $2,000  and 
fifteen  years  imprisonment.  This  method  of  argument  has 
continued,  until  multitudes  of  honest  Christian  people  in  this 
and  other  lands  believe  that  slaveholding  is  the  sin  of  sins, 
the  sum  of  all  villauies.  Let  me  illustrate  this  by  an  incident 
in  iny  own  experience.  A  few  years  since  I  took  from  the  cen¬ 
tre  table  of  a  Christian  family  in  Scotland,  by  whom  I  had 
been  most  kindly  entertained,  a  book  entitled  “  Life  and  Man- 


1861.]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism. 


577 


ners  in  America.”  On  the  blank  leaf  was  an  inscription,  stat¬ 
ing  that  the  book  had  been  bestowed  upon  one  of  the  children 
of  the  family,  as  a  reward  of  diligence  in  an  institution  of 
learning.  The  frontispiece  was  a  picture  of  a  man  of  fierce 
countenace,  beating  a  naked  woman.  The  contents  of  the 
book  were  professedly  compiled  from  the  testimony  of  Ameri¬ 
cans  upon  the  subject  of  slavery.  I  dare  not  quote  in  this 
place,  the  extracts  which  I  made  in  my  memorandum.  It 
will  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  book  asserts  as  undoubted 
facts  that  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  are  studdied  with  iron 
gallows  for  the  punishment  of  slaves — that  in  the  city  of 

Charleston  the  bloody  blocks  on  which  masters  cut  off’  the 

«/ 

hands  of  disobedient  servants,  may  be  seen  in  the  public 
squares,  and  that  sins  against  chastity  are  common  and  unre¬ 
buked  in  professedly  Christian  families. 

Now  in  my  heart,  I  did  not  feel  angry  at  the  author  of  that 
book,  nor  at  the  school  teacher  who  bestowed  it  upon  his 
scholar,  for  in  Christian  charity  I  gave  them  credit  for  honesty 
in  the  case,  but  standing  there  a  stranger  among  the  martyr 
memories  of  that  glorious  land  to  which  my  heart  had  so  often 
made  its  pilgrimage,  I  did  feel  that  you  and  I,  and  every  man 
in  America,  was  wronged  by  the  revilers  of  their  native  land, 
who  teach  foreigners  that  hanging,  and  cutting  off  hands,  and 
beating  women,  are  the  characteristics  of  our  life  and  man¬ 
ners. 

But  we  need  not  go  to  foreign  lands  for  proof  that  aboli¬ 
tionism  has  carried  on  its  warfare  by  the  language  of  abuse* 
The  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society, 
brings  the  evidence  to  our  doors.  We  have  been  accustomed 
to  laugh  at  these  vernal  exhibitions  of  fanaticism,  not  thinkimr 
perhaps,  that  what  was  fun  to  us  was  working  death  to  our 
brethren,  whose  property  and  reputation  we  are  bound  to 
protect.  The  fact  is,  we  have  suffered  a  fire  to  be  built  in  obf 
midst,  whose  sparks  have  been  scattered  far  and  wide ;  and 
now  when  the  smoke  of  the  conflagration  comes  back  to  blind 
our  eyes,  and  the  heat  of  it  begins  to  scorch  our  industrial 
and  commercial  interests,  it  will  not  do  for  us  to  say  that  the 
» utterances  of  that  society  are  the  ravings  of  a  fanatical  and 
insignificant  few  ;  for  the  men  who  compose  it  are  honored  in 
our  midst  with  titles  and  offices. 

Its  President  is  a  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey* 
The  ministers  who  have  thrown  over  its  doings  the  sanction  of 
our  holy  religion,  are  quoted  and  magnified  all  over  the  land  as 
the  representative  men  of  the  age ;  and  the  man  who  stood 
up  in  its  deliberations  in  the  year  1852,  and  exhausted  the 


578 


Miscellaneous . 


[Feb. 


vocabulary  of  abuse  upon  the  compromise  measures,  and  the 
great  statesmen  who  framed  them,  is  now  a  Judge  in  our 
courts  and  the  guardian  of  our  lives  and  property. 

It  will  doubtless  be  said  that  misrepresentation  and  abuse 
have  not  been  confined,  in  the  progress  of  this  unhappy  con¬ 
test  to  the  abolitionists  of  the  North  ;  that  demagogues  and 
self-seeking  men  at  the  South,  have  been  violent  and  abusive, 
and  that  newspapers  professedly  in  the  interests  of  the  South, 
with  a  spirit  which  can  be  charactized  as  little  less  than  dia¬ 
bolical,  have  circulated  every  scandal  in  the  most  aggravated 
and  irritating  form.  But  suppose  all  this  to  be  granted — 
what  then?  Can  Christian  men  justify  or  palliate  the  wrath 
and  evil  speaking  which  are  at  their  own  doors,  by  pointing  to 
the  retaliation  which  it  has  provoked  from  their  neighbors  ? 
If  I  were  preaching  to-day  to  a  Southern  audience,  it  would  be 
my  duty,  and  I  trust  God  would  give  me  grace  to  perform  it, 
to  tell  them  of  their  sins  in  this  matter  ;  and  especially  would 
it  be  my  privilege,  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel  of  peace — a 
privilege  from  which  no  false  views  of  manhood  should  prevent 
me — to  exhort  and  beseech  them  as  brethren.  I  would  as¬ 
sure  them  that  there  are  multitudes  here  who  still  cherish  the 
memory  of  the  battle  fields  and  council  chambers,  where  our 
fathers  cemented  this  Union  of  States,  and  who  will  stand  by 
the  compact  of  that  constitution  to  the  utmost  extremity. 

I  would  tell  the  thousands  of  Christian  ministers,  among 
whom  are  some  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  American 
pulpit,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  Christian  men  and  women  to¬ 
wards  whom,  while  the  love  of  Christ  burns  in  me,  my 
heart  never  can  grow  cold,  that  if  they  will  only  be  patient 
and  hope  to  the  end,  all  wrongs  may  yet  be  righted. — - 
Therefore,  I  would  beseech  them  not  to  put  a  great  gulf  be¬ 
tween  us,  and  cut  off  the  very  opportunity  for  reconciliation 
upon  an  honorable  basis,  by  a  revolution  whose  end  no  hu¬ 
man  eye  can  see.  But,  then,  I  am  not  preaching  at  the  South. 

I  stand  here  at  one  of  the  main  fountain  heads  of  the  abuse 
we  have  complained  of. 

I  stand  here  to  rebuke  this  sin,  and  exhort  the  guilty  par¬ 
ties  to  repent  and  forsake  it.  It  is  magnanimous  and  Christ-* 
like  for  those  from  whom  the  first  provocation  came,  to  make 
the  first  concessions. 

The  legislative  enactments  which  are  in  open  and  acknowl¬ 
edged  violation  of  the  constitution,  and  whose  chief  design  is 
to  put  a  stigma  upon  slaveholding,  must  and  will  be  repealed. 
Truth  and  justice  will  ultimately  prevail;  and  God’s  blessing 
and  the  blessings  of  generations  yet  unborn  will  rest  upon 


1861.]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism . 


579 


that  party,  in  this  unhappy  contest,  who  first  stand  forth  to 
utter  the  language  of  conciliation  and  proffer  the  olive  branch 
of  peace.  The  great  fear  is  that  the  reaction  will  come  too 
late  ;  but  sooner  or  later  it  will  come.  Abolitionism  ought  to 
and  one  day  will  change  the  mode  of  its  warfare,  and  adopt  a 
new  vocabulary.  I  believe  in  the  liberty  of  the  press  and  iu 
freedom  of  speech ;  but  I  do  not  believe  that  any  man  has  a 
right  before  God,  or  in  the  eye  of  civilized  law,  to  speak  and  pub-* 
lish  what  he  pleases  without  regard  to  the  consequences.  With 
the  eonsciencious  convictions  of  our  fellow-citizens,  neither  we 
nor  the  law  have  any  right  to  interfere  ;  but  the  law  ought  to 
protect  all  men  from  the  utterance  of  libellous  words,  whose 
only  effect  is  to  create  division  and  strife. 

I  trust  and  pray,  and  call  upon  you  to  unite  with  me  in  the 
supplication,  that  God  would  givo  abolitionists  repentance  and 
a  better  mind,  so  that  in  time  to  come  they  may  at  least  proj 
pagate  their  principles  in  decent  and  respectful  language. 

III. — ‘ABOLITIONISM  LEADS  IN  MULTITUDES  OF  CASES,  AND 
BY  A  LOGICAL  PROCESS  TO  UTTER  INFIDELITY. 

On  this  point  I  would  not  and  will  not  be  misunderstood.  I  do 
not  say  that  abolitionism  is  infidelity.  I  speak  only  of  the  ten¬ 
dencies  of  the  system  as  indicated  in  its  avowed  principles  and 
demonstrated  in  its  practical  fruits. 

One  of  its  avowed  principles  is  that  it  does  not  try  slavery 
by  the  Bible  ;  but  as  one  of  its  leading  advocates  has  recent-* 
ly  declared,  it  tries  the  Bible  by  the  principles  of  freedom.  It 
insists  that  the  Word  of  God  must  be  made  to  support  certain 
human  opinions,  or  forfeit  all  claims  upon  our  faith.  That  I 
may  not  be  suspected  of  exaggeration  on  this  point,  let  me 
quote  from  the  recent  work  of  Mr.  Barnes,  a  passage  which 
may  well  arrest  the  attention  of  all  thinking  men  ; 

“  There  are  great  principles  in  our  nature,  as  God  has  made 
us,  which  can  never  be  set  aside  by  any  authority  of  a  profess¬ 
ed  revelation.  If  a  book  claiming  to  be  a  revelation  from 
God,  by  any  fair  interpretation  defended  slavery,  or  placed  it 
on  the  same  basis  as  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife,  parent 
and  child,  guardian  and  ward,  such  a  book  would  not,  and 
could  not  be  received  by  the  mass  of  mankind  as  a  Divine 
revelation.” 

This  assumption,  that  men  are  capable  of  judging  before-* 
hand  what  is  to  be  expected  in  a  Divine  revelation,  is  the 
cockatrice’s  egg,  from  which  in  all  ages  heresies  have  been 
hatched.  This  is  the  spider’s  webb  which  men  have  spun  out  of 
their  own  brains,  and  clinging  to  which,  they  have  attempted 

73 


Miscellaneous. 


'O 


SO 


j  Feb. 


to  swing  over  the  yawning  abyss  of  infidelity.  Alas,  how  many 
have  fallen  in  and  been  dashed  to  pieces !  When  a  man  sets 
op  the  great  principles  of  oor  nature  (by  which  he  always  means 
his  own  preconceived  opinions)  as  the  supreme  tribunal  before 
which  even  the  law  of  God  must  be  tried — when  a  man  says 
“the  Bible  must  teach  abolitionism  or  I  will  not  received  it,” 
he  has  already  cut  loose  from  the  sheet  anchor  of  faith.  True 
belief  says  “Speak,  Lord,  thy  servant  waits  to  hear.”  Abo¬ 
litionism  says,  “  Speak,  Lord,  but  speak  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  human  nature,  or  thy  word  cannot  be  received 
by  the  great  mass  of  mankind  as  a  Divine  revelation.”  The  fruit 
of  such  principles  is  just  what  we  might  expect.  Wherever  the 
seed  of  abolitionism  has  been  sown  broadcast,  a  plentiful  crop 
of  infidelity  has  sprung  up.  In  the  communities  where  anti-sla¬ 
very  excitement  has  been  most  prevalent,  the  power  of  the 
Gospel  has  invariably  declined;  and  when  the  tide  of  fanati¬ 
cism  begins  to  subside,  the  wrecks  of  church  order  and  of 
Christian  character  have  been  scattered  on  the  shore.  I  mean 
no  disrespect  to  New  England — to  the  good  men  who  there 
stand  by  the  ancient  landmarks  and  contend  earnestly  for  the 
truth — nor  to  the  illustrious  dead,  whose  praise  is  in  all  the 
churches ‘T  but  who  does  not  know  that  the  States  in  which 
abolitionism  has  achieved  its  most  signal  triumphs,  are  at  the 
same  time  the  great  strongholds  of  infidelity  in  the  land?  I 
have  often  thought  that  if  some  of  those  old  pilgrim  fathers 
could  come  back,  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias,  to  attend  a 
grand  celebration  at  Plymouth  rock,  they  might  well  preach 
on  this  text:.  “  If  ye  were  Abraham’s  childreh,  ye  would  do 
the  works  of  Abraham.”  The  effect  of  abolitionism  upon  indi¬ 
viduals  is  no  less  striking  and  mournful,  than  its  influence  upon 
communities.  It  is  a  remarkable  and  instructive  fact,  and  one 
at  which  Christian  men  would  do  well  to  pause  and  consider, 
that  in  this  eonntrv  all  the  prominent  leaders  of  abolitionism, 
outside  of  the  ministry,  have  become  avowed  infidels  ;  and  that 
all  our  notorious  abolition  preachers  have  renounced  the  great 
doctrines  of  grace,  as  they  are  taught  in  the  standards  of  the 
reformed  churches — have  resorted  to  the  most  violent  processes 
of  interpretation,  to  avoid  the  obvious  meaning  of  plain  Scrip¬ 
tural  texts,  o»nd  ascribed  to  the  Apostles  of  Christ  principles, 
from  which  piety  and  moral  courage  instinctively  revolt.  They 
make  that  to  be  sin  which  the  Bible  does  not  declare  to  be  sin. 
They  denounce  in  language  such  as  the  sternest  prophets  of 
the  Law  never  employed,  a  relation  which  Jesus  and  His  Apos¬ 
tles  recognized  and  regulated.  They  seek  to  institute  terms 
and  texts  of  Christian  communion  utterly  at  variance  with  the 


18G1.]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism. 


58  r 


organic  law  of  the  church  as  founded  by  its  Divine  Head  ;  and, 
attempting  to  justify  this  usurpation  of  Divine  perogatives  by 
an  appeal  from  God’s  law,  to  the  dictates  of  fallen  human  na¬ 
ture,  they  would  set  up  a  spiritual  tyranny  more  odious  and 
insufferable,  because  more  arbitrary  and  uncertain  in  its  deci¬ 
sions,  than  Popery  itself.  And  as  the  tree  is,  so  have  its  fruits 
been.  It  is  not  a  theory,  but  a  demonstrated  fact,  that  aboli¬ 
tionism  leads  to  infidelity.  Such  men  as  Garrison,  and  Gid- 
dings,  and  Gerrit  Smith,  have  yielded  to  the  current  of  their 
own  principles,  and  thrown  the  Bible  overboard.  Thousands 
of  humbler  men  who  listen  to  abolition  preachers,  will  go  and 
do  likewise.  And  whether  it  be  the  restraints  of  official  posi¬ 
tion,  or  the  preventing  grace  of  God,  that  enables  such  preach¬ 
ers  to  row  up  the  stream  and  regard  the  authority  of  Scripture 
in  other  matters,  their  influence  upon  this  one  subject  is  all  the 
more  pernicious,  because  they  prophecy  in  the  name  of  Christ. 
In  this  sincere  and  plain  utterance  of  my  deep  convictions,  I 
am  only  discharging  my  conscience  towards  the  flock  over 
which  I  am  set.  When  the  shepherd  soeth  the  wolf,  coming 
he  is  bound  to  give  warning. 

o  & 

IV. — ABOLITIONISM  IS  THE  CHIEF  CAUSE  OF  THE  STRIFE 


THAT  AGITATES,  AND  THE  DANGER  THAT 
THREATENS  OUR  COUNTRY. 

Here,  as  upon  the  preceding  point,  I  will  not  be  misunder¬ 
stood.  1  am  not  here  as  the  advocate  or  opponent  of  any  po¬ 
litical  party  ;  and  it  is  no  more  than  simple  justice  for  me  to 
say  plainly,  that  I  do  not  consider  Republican  and  Abolition¬ 
ist,  as  necessarily  synonymous  terms.  There  are  tens  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  Christian  men  who  voted  with  the  successful  party  in 
the  late  election,  who  do  not  sympathize  with  the  principles  or 
aims  of  abolitionism.  Among  these  are  some  beloved  mem¬ 
bers  of  my  own  flock,  who  will  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  put 
the  seal  of  their  approbation  upon  the  doctrine  of  this  dis¬ 
course.  And  what  is  still  more  to  the  point,  there  seems  to  be 
sufficient  evidence  that  the  man  who  has  just  been  chosen  to 
be  the  head  of  this  nation,  is  among  the  more  conservative 
and  Bible-loving  men  of  his  party.  We  have  no  fears  that  if 
the  new  administration  could  be  quietly  inaugurated,  it  would 
or  could  abolitionize  the  government.  There  are  honest  peo¬ 
ple  enough  in  the  Northern  States  to  prevent  such  a  result. 
But,  then,  while  this  is  admitted  as  a  simple  matter  of  truth 
and  justice,  it  cannot  be  denied,  on  the  other  hand,  that  aboli¬ 
tionism  did  enter  with  all  its  characteristic  bitterness  into  the 
recent  contest,  that  result  never  could  have  been  accomplish- 


582 


M  iscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


ed  without  its  assistance,  and  that  it  now  appropriates  the  vic¬ 
tory  in  words  of  ridicule  and  scorn,  that  sting*  like  a  serpent. 
Let  me  give  you  as  a  single  speciment  of  the  spirit  in  which 
abolitionism  has  carried  on  its  political  warfare,  an  extract  from 
a  journal  which  claims  to  have  a  larger  circulation  than  any 
other  religious  paper  in  the  land.  I  quote  from  the  New  York 
Independent,  of  September,  1856  : 

“  The  people  will  not  levy  war  nor  inaugurate  a  revolution, 
even  to  relieve  Kansas,  until  they  have  first  tried  what  they 
they  can  do  by  voting.  If  this  peaceful  remedy  should  fail  to 
be  applied  this  year,  then  the  people  will  count  the  cost  wisely 
and  decide  for  themselves  boldly  and  firmly,  which  is  the  better 
way,  to  rise  in  arms  and  throw  off*  a  government  worse  than  that 
of  old  King  George,  or  endure  it  another  four  vears  and  then 

O  7 


vote  again.” 


Such  is  the  spirit — such  the  love  to  the  constitution  and 
’Union  of  these  States,  with  which  this  religious  sentiment  has 
entered  into  and  seeks  to  control  our  party  politics. 

This  passage  is  not  quoted  as  an  extraordinary  one  for  the 
columns  of  the  Independent,  for  that  paper  is  accustomed  to 
breathe  out  threatenings  and  slaughter.  It  is  but  a  fair  illus- 
tration  of  the  fierce  spirit  which  this  so-called  religious  Journal 
infuses  into  the  families,  where  it  is  a  weekly  visitor,  and  of 
the  opinions  concerning  the  United  States  government,  it  seeks 
to  disseminate.  The  passage  quoted  has  a  special  significance, 
however,  in  view  of  its  date  September ,  1856.  The  opinions 
of  the  Editors  appear  to  have  undergone  a  wonderful  change 
in  four  years ;  and  forgetting  that  they  have  been  the  violent 
advocates,  not  only  of  disunion,  but  of  civil  war,  they  have  be¬ 
come  loud  in  rebuking  secession  at  the  South.  The  genius  of 

o  o 


the  constitution  might  wTell  say  to  such  defenders,  “What  hast 
thou  to  do  to  declare  my  statues,  or  that  thou  shouldst  take 
my  covenant  in  thy  mouth?” 

But  we  deceive  ourselves  if  we  suppose  that  our  present  dan¬ 
gers  are  of  a  birth  so  recent  as  1856.  As  the  questions  now 
before  the  country  rise  in  their  magnitude  above  all  party  in¬ 
terests  and  ought  at  once  to  blot  out  all  party  lines,  so  their 
origin  is  found  far  back  of  all  party  organizations  as  they  now 
exist. 

An  article  published  twenty  years  ago  in  the  Princeton  Ite- 
view,  contains  this  remarkable  language : 

O  O 

“  The  opinion  that  slaveholding  is  itself  a  crime,  must  oper¬ 
ate  to  produce  the  disunion  of  the  States,  and  the  division  of 
all  ecclesiastical  societies  in  this  country.  Just  so  far  as  this 
opinion  operates,  it  will  lead  those  who  entertain  it  to  submit 


1 8C 1 .]  Character  and  Influence  of  Abolitionism.  5S3 


to  any  sacrifices  to  carry  it  out  and  give  it  effect.  We  shall 
become  two  nations  in  feeling,  which  must  soon  render  us  two 
nations  in  fact.” 

The  words  are  wonderfully  prophetic,  and  they  who  read 
the  signs  of  the  times  must  see  that  the  period  of  their  fulfil¬ 
ment  draws  near.  In  regard  to  ecclesiastical  societies,  the  di¬ 
vision  foretold  is  already  in  a  great  measure  accomplished. 
Three  of  our  great  religious  denominations  have  been  rent  in 
twain,  by  the  simple  question,  “Is  slaveholding  a  sin?” 

It  yet  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  American  Tract  So- 
ciety,  and  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  will  be 
revolutionized  and  dismembered  bv  a  contest,  which,  we  are 
told,  is  to  be  annually  renewed.  In  regard  to  the  Union  of 
these  States  there  is  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  “  we  are  al¬ 
ready  two  nations  in  feeling,”  and  to  anticipate  the  near  ap¬ 
proach  of  the  calamity,  which  shall  blot  out  some  of  the  stars 
in  our  ensign  and  make  us  two  nations  in  fact. 

And,  what  has  brought  us  to  the  verge  of  this  precipice  ? 
Wh  at  evil  spirit  has  put  enmity  between  the  seed  of  those  whom 
God  by  His  blessings  on  the  wisdom  and  sacrifices  of  our  fath¬ 
ers  made  one  flesh?  What  has  created  and  fostered  this  alie¬ 
nation  between  the  North  and  the  South  until  disunion — that 
used  to  be  whispered  in  corners — stalks  forth  in  open  daylight 
and  is  recognized  as  a  necessity  by  multitudes  of  thinking  men 
in  all  sections  of  the  land?  .  I  believe  before  God,  that  this 
division  of  feeling,  of  which  actual  disunion  will  be  but  the  ex- 
pression  and  embodiment,  was  begotten  of  abolitionism,  has 
been  rocked  in  its  cradle  and  fed  with  its  poisoned  milk,  and 
instructed  by  its  ministers,  until  girded  with  a  strength  which 
comes  not  altogether  of  this  upper  world,  it  is  taking  hold 
upon  the  pillars  of  the  constitution  and  shattering  the  noble 
fabric  to  its  base. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  constitutional  questions  between 
the  North  and  South — the  conflict  of  material  interests  grow- 
ing  out  of  their  differences  in  soil  and  production,  were  dis¬ 
cussed  in  the  spirit  of  statemanship  and  Christian  courtesy. 
Then,  such  men  as  Daniel  Webster  on  the  one  side,  and  Calhoun 
on  the  other,  stood  up  face  to  face  and  defended  the  rights  of 
their  respective  constituency  in  words  which  will  be  quoted  as 
long  as  the  English  tongue  shall  endure,  as  a  model  of  elo¬ 
quence  and  a  pattern  of  manly  debate.  But  abolitionism  be¬ 
gan  to  creep  in.  It  came  first  as  a  purely  “  moral”  question  ; 
but  very  soon  its  doctrines  were  embraced  by  a  sufficient  num¬ 
ber,  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  between  contending  parties 
in  many  districts  and  States.  Aspirants  for  the  Presidency 


5S4 


Miscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


seized  upon  it  as  a  weapon  for  gratifying  their  ambition  or 
avenging  their  disappointments.  Under  the  shadow  of  their 
patronage,  sincere  abolitionist  became  more  bold  and  abusive 
in  advocating  their  principles.  The  unlawful  and  wicked  busi¬ 
ness  of  enticing  slaves  from  their  masters,  was  pushed  forward 
with  increasing  zeal.  Men,  who  in  the  better  days  of  the  re¬ 
public  could  not  have  obtained  the  smallest  office,  were  elected 
to  Congress  upon  this  single  issue  ;  and  ministers  of  the  Gos¬ 
pel  descended  from  the  pulpit  to  mingle  religious  animosity 
with  the  boiling  cauldron  of  political  strife.  Nor  was  this  pro¬ 
cess  confined  to  one  side  of  the  contest.  Abuse  always  pro¬ 
vokes  recriminations.  So  long  as  human  nature  is  passionate, 
hard  words  will  be  responded  to  by  harder  blows.  And  now 
behold  the  result!  In  the  halls  where  Webster  and  Calhoun, 
Adams  and  McDuffie  rendered  the  very  name  of  American 
statemanship  illustrious,  and  revived  the  memory  of  classic  elo¬ 
quence,  we  have  heard  the  outpouring  of  both  Northern  and 
Southern  violence,  from  men  who  must  be  nameless  in  this  sa¬ 
cred  place;  and  in  the  land  where  such  slaveholders  as  Wash¬ 
ington  and  Madison  united  with  Hamilton  and  Hancock,  in 
cementing  the  Union  which  the}'  fondly  hoped  would  be  per¬ 
petual,  commerce  and  manufactures,  and  all  our  great  industri¬ 
al  and  governmental  interests,  are  trembling  on  the  verge  of 
dissolution  ;  and  as  abolitionism  is  the  great  mischief  maker  be¬ 
tween  the  North  and  South,  so  it  is  the  great  stumbling  block 
in  the  way  of  a  peaceful  settlement  of  our  difficulties.  Its 
voice  is  still  for  war.  The  spirit  of  conciliation  and  compro¬ 
mise  it  utterly  abhors,  and,  mingling  a  horrid  mirth  with  its 
madness,  puts  into  the  hands  of  the  advocates  of  secession, 
the  very  fans  with  which  to  blow  the  embers  of  strife  into  a 
flame.  One  man  threw  a  torch  into  the  great  temple  of  the 
Ephesians,  and  kindled  a  conflagration  which  a  hundred  thou¬ 
sand  brave  men  could  not  extinguish.  One  man  fiddled  and 
sang,  and  made  his  courtiers  laugh  amid  the  burning  of  Rome, 
and  the  abolition  preacher  “  feels  good”  and  overflows  with 
merriment  when  he  sees  our  merchants  and  laboring  men  run¬ 
ning  after  their  chests  and  the  bread  of  their  families  “  as  if  all 

o 

creation  was  after  them,”  and  snuffs  on  the  Southern  breeze  the 
scent  of  servile  and  civil  war.  Oh,  shame — shame  that  it 
should  come  to  this ;  and  the  name  of  our  holy  religion  be  so 
blasphemed !  Let  us  hope  in  Christian  charity  that  such  men 
do  not  comprehend  the  danger  that  stares  them  in  the  face.  In¬ 
deed,  who  of  us  does  fully  comprehend  it?  In  the  eloquent 
words  of  Daniel  Webster,  “  While  the  Union  lasts,  we  have 
high,  exciting,  gratifying  prospects  spread  out  before  us,  for 


18G1.]  Character  and,  Influence  of  Abolitionism.  585 


ns  and  for  our  children.  Beyond  that  I  seek  not  to  penetrate  the 
veil.  God  grant  that  in  ray  day,  at  least,  that  curtain  may 
not  rise.” 

I  repeat  the  noble  sentiment;  God  grant  that  in  my  day,  at 
least,  the  curtain  may  not  rise  !  Let  the  night  of  the  grave 
envelope  these  eyes  in  its  peaceful  sleep,  ere  their  balls  are 
reared  with  the  vision  of  dissolution  and  civil  war.  He  must 
be  blind  who  does  not  perceive  that  such  a  vision  is  just  ready 
to  burst  upon  us. 

A  kind  and  wonderful  providence  has  so  tempered  the 
body  of  these  States  together,  so  bound  and  interlaced 
them  with  commercial  and  social  ties,  to  say  nothing  of  legal 
obligations,  that  no  member  can  be  severed  and  especially  no 
contest  can  be  waged  among  the  members,  without  a  quiver¬ 
ing  and  anguish  in  every  nerve,  and  a  stagnation  in  the  vital 
currents  of  all.  Let  one  star  be  blotted  out  from  our  ensign, 
and  the  moral  gravitation  which  holds  all  in  their  orbits  will  be 
paralyzed,  if  not  utterly  destroyed.  The  living  example  of 
successful  secession  for  one  cause,  will  suggest  the  same  course 
for  another;  and  unless  God  gives  our  public  men  a  wisdom 
and  forbearance,  of  which  the  past  few  years  have  afforded 
too  little  evidence,  the  dissolution  of  this  Union  will  be  the 
signal  for  the  disintegration  of  its  elements.  In  such  a  chaos 
let  us  not  flatter  ourselves  that  we  shall  be  in  entire  peace  and 
safety.  The  contest  on  whose  perilous  edge  we  seem  to  stand 
cannot  be  merely  sectional — all  the  North  on  the  one  side, 
and  all  the  South  on  the  other.  It  is  a  conflict  that  will  run 
the  ploughshare  of  division  through  every  State  and  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  the  land.  Abolition  orators  may  talk  about  what 
“  we  of  the  North”  will  do  and  will  not  do,  as  though  all  the 
people  had  bowed  down  to  worship  the  image  they  had  set  up; 
but  other  men  beside  them  will  claim  the  right  to  speak — 
other  interests  will  need  to  be  conserved  besides  the  cause 
upon  which  they  arrogantly  assume,  that  victory  perches  and 
the  smile  of  heaven  rests.  “Let  not  him  who  putteth  on  his 
armour  boast  as  he  that  putteth  it  off.”  When  the  thousands 
of  working  men  wrhose  subsistence  depends  upon  our  trade  with 
the  South,  many  of  whom  have  been  deluded  by  abolition 
demagogues,  shall  clamour  in  our  streets  for  bread,  free  la¬ 
bor  may  present  some  problems  which  political  economy  has  not 
solved.  And  wThen  the  commerce  of  this  cosmopolitan  city  is 
parallyzed,  and  all  her  benevolent  and  industrial  institutions  are 
withering  in  the  heat  of  this  unnatural  contest,  it  may  become 
a  question — nay,  is  it  not  already  whispered  in  your  counting- 
houses — whether  this  great  metropolis  can  be  separated  from 


5S6 


Miscellaneous 


[Feb. 


the  people  with  whom  her  interests  and  her  heart  is  bound  up, 
and  continue  to  be  controlled  by  a  legislative  policy  against 
which  she  is  continually  protesting?  or  whether,  following  the 
great  lights  of  history,  she  will  at  all  hazards  set  up  for  herself, 
and  unbolting  the  gateway  of  her  magnificent  harbor,  invite 
the  free  trade  of  the  world  to  pour  its  riches  into  her  bosom? 
Such  are  a  fe^v  of  the  problems  which  bring  the  question  of  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union  home  to  us.  If  we  were  sure  of  a 
peaceful  solution  at  whatever  pecuniary  or  social  sacrifice, 
we  would  not  feel  so  deeply  nor  speak  so  earnestly.  But 
who  knows  that  it  will  be  peaceful  ?  Where  is  the  surgeon 
who  can  sever  even  one  member  from  this  body  politic,  with¬ 
out  the  shedding  of  blood?  Where  is  the  statesman  or  politi¬ 
cal  economist  who  will  undertake  to  control  the  parties,  or  di¬ 
rect  the  industrial  interests  of  any  one  State,  amid  the  confu¬ 
sion  and  alarm  of  disulution  ?  Let  us  not  deceive  ourselves. 
The  chasm  before  us  is  a  yawning  abyss,  into  whose  depths  no 
eye  but  God’s  can  penetrate.  Other  men  may  cry  “  who’s 
afraid  ?”  and  whistle  to  keep  their  courage  up  ;  but  I  confess 
my  fears.  Through  the  curtain  that  is  about  to  rise,  I  see 
shadows  at  which  the  horror  of  a  great  darkness  settles  down 
upon  my  spirit,  and  the  hair  of  my  flesh  stands  up. 

Oh,  my  country  !  I  have  loved  thee  with  an  affection  pass¬ 
ing  the  love  of  woman  !  The  glories  of  thy  history,  mingled 
with  the  lifeblood  of  my  childhood ;  thy  prosperity  has  been 
the  pride  and  boast  of  my  riper  years;  and,  mingling  in  my 
heart  the  love  of  country  with  the  love  of  Christ,  I  have  cher¬ 
ished  the  hope  that  thy  brightness  would  never  be  diminished 
until  it  blended  with  the  glories  of  the  millennial  day ;  that 
thy  consummation  would  be  like  the  setting  of  the  morning 
star, 

“  Which  goes  not  down 
Behind  the  darkened  west,  nor  hides  obscured 
Among  the  tempests  of  the  sky,  but  melts  away 
Into  the  light  of  heaven.” 

And  must  this  precious  hope  be  dispelled  ?  Must  this  light 
go  out ;  and  the  brightest  prospect  the  world  ever  beheld, 
disappear  amid  confused  noise,  and  garments  rolled  in  blood  ? 
Must  the  interest  of  thirty  millions  of  white  men  be  sacrified, 
and  the  run  of  civilization  be  turned  back  upon  the  dial 
of  the  world’s  history,  by  a  fanaticism  which  all  experience 
proves  to  be  the  black  man  s  bitterest  enemy  ? 

Let  ns  appeal  to  the  God  of  peace,  in  whose  hands  are  the 
hearts  of  all  men,  to  dispel  the  fearful  vision,  to  infuse  His 
loving  spirit  into  our  national  councils,  to  give  our  public  men 


1861.] 


Poetry. 


587 


the  meekness  of  wisdom,  and  to  bind  the  hearts  of  all  the  peo¬ 
ple  once  more  in  bonds  of  brotherly  kindness. 

But  if  we  would  have  these  supplications  answered,  let  us 
prove  our  faith  by  our  works  ;  take  the  beam  out  of  our  own 
eye,  and  obey  the  twofold  precept  of  the  text :  “  These  things 
teach  and  exhort,  and  if  any  man  teach  otherwise,  from  such 
withdraw  thyself.” 


SELECTED, 


“DOMING  QUO  YADIS.  7" 

There  stands  in  the  old  Appian  way, 

Two  miles  without  the  Roman  wall, 

A  little  ancient  church,  and  grav : 

Long  may  it  moulder  not,  nor  fall ! 

There  hangs  a  legend  on  the  name 
One  reverential  thought  may  claim. 

’Tis  written  of  that  firey  time, 

When  all  the  angered  evil  powers 
Leagued  against  Christ  for  wrath  and  crime, 
How  Peter  left  the  accursed  towers, 
Passing  from  out  the  guilty  street, 

And  shook  the  red  dust  from  his  feet. 

Sole  .pilgrim  else  in  that  lone  road, 

Suddenly  he  was  ’ware  of  One 
Who  toiled  beneath  a  weary  load. 
Bareheaded  in  the  beating  sun. 

Pale  with  long  watches  and  forespent 
With  harm  and  evil  accident. 

Under  a  Cross  His  weak  limbs  bow, 
Scarcely  His  sinking  strength  avails, 

A  crown  of  thorns  is  on  His  brow, 

And  in  His  hands  the  print  of  nails. 

So  friendless  and  alone  in  shame, 

One  like  the  Man  of  Sorrows  came. 

Read  in  her  eyes  who  gave  thee  birth, 

That  loving,  tender,  sad  rebuke  ; 

Then  learn  no  mother  on  this  earth, 

How  dear  soever,  shaped  a  look 
So  sweet,  so  sad,  so  pure  as  now 
Came  from  beneath  that  holy  brow. 

And  deeply  Peter’s  heart  it  pierced, 

Once  had  he  seen  that  look  before  ; 

And  even  now  as  at  the  first. 

It  touched,  it  smote  him  to  the  core. 
Bowing  his  head,  no  word  save  three 
He  spoke — “  Quo  Vadis  Domine  ?” 

Then  as  he  looked  up  from  the  ground, 

His  Saviour  made  him  answer  due — 

My  son,  to  Rome  I  go  thormcrowned, 


74 


588 


Miscellaneous, 


[Feb 


There  to  he  crucified  anew  ; 

Since  he  to  whom  I  gave  my  sheep 
Leaves  them  for  other  men  to  keep." 

Then  the  saint’s  eyes  grew  dim  with  tears, 

He  kneltj  his  Master’s  feet  to  kiss— 

“  I  vexed  my  heart  with  faithless  fears, 

Pardon  Thy  servant,  Lord,  for  this." 

Then  rising  up — but  none  was  there — 

No  voice,  no  sound,  in  earth  or  air. 

Straightway  his  footsteps  he  retraced, 

As  one  who  hath  a  work  to  do. 

Back  through  the  gates  lie  passed  with  haste, 
Silent,  alone,  and  full  in  view  ; 

And  lay  forsaken,  save  of  One, 

In  dungeon  deep  ere  set  of  sun. 

Then  he,  who  once,  apart  from  ill, 

Nor  taught  the  depth  of  human  tears, 

Girded  himself  and  walked  at  will, 

As  one  rejoicing  in  the  years, 

Girded  of  others,  scorned  and  slain, 

Passed  heavenward  through  the  gates  of  pain. 

If  any  bear  a  heart  within, 

Well  may  these  walls  be  more  than  stone, 

And  breathe  of  peace  and  pardoned  sin 
To  him  who  grieveth  all  alone, 

Eelurn,  faint  heart,  and  strive  thy  strife; 

Fight,  conquer,  grasp  the  crown  of  life. 

Blackicood's  Magazine. 


CHEVALIER  BUNSEN,  AND  OUR  PRESENT 

TROUBLES. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  wre  mentioned  the  death  of  this  distinguish¬ 
ed  man.  Many  of  our  readers  will  remember  him  as  one  of 
Dr.  Arnold’s  correspondents  ;  as  the  Prussian  Ambassador  to 
England,  and  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  European  sa- 
vans.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Winslow  writes  to  the  N.  Y.  Observer, 
of  a  conversation  he  had  with  him  in  regard  to  the  question  of 
slavery.  The  following  are  his  views  : — So.  Churchman. 

“Have  you  no  fear,  my  dear  sir,  said  he,  that  incurable  dis¬ 
affection  will  yet  arise  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States  on  the  slavery  question  ?  You  are  bound  together  by 
mutual  affection,  that  is  the  very  genius  of  the  republic  ;  and 
if  that  fails,  what  will  remain  to  make  you  longer  one  ?  How 
long  can  people  continue  to  say  such  irritating  and  provoking 
things  of  each  other,  and  remain  one  in  affection  ?  Suppose 
the  brothers  of  a  family  should  do  so,  how  long  would  they 
continue  to  live  together?  Ah!  “freedom  of  discussion.” 
That  I  understand ;  but  may  not  that,  like  all  good  things, 


1861.]  Chevalier  Bunsen,  and  our  Present  Troubles.  589 


be  overdone  and  abused  ?  Suppose  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  a  family  conscientiously  differ  on  moral  questions,  and  have 
also  interests  as  various  as  opinions ;  can  they  indulge  in  un¬ 
restrained  discussion  and  taunting  remarks,  in  advocacy  of 
each  other’s  opinions  and  rights,  without  engendering  strife 
and  ruining  the  peace  of  the  family?  Must  they  not  “  agree 
to  differ,”  and  so  drop  their  controversy  ;  or  abandon  all  fra¬ 
ternal  love  and  family  rule  ?  If  some  of  the  States  think  that 
to  be  a  sin  which  others  think  is  right,  and  best*  and  they 
carry  their  respective  moralities  into  their  politics,  is  not  a 
separation  between  them  a  logical  and  inevitable  consequence  ? 
Do  not  some  of  you  at  the  North  err,  with  some  of  our  English 
brethren,  in  expecting  to  get  rid  of  slavery,  by  directly  attack- 
ing  the  institution  ?  Did  Christ  and  His  Apostles  do  so  ? 
Suppose  you  could  emancipate  all  the  slaves  by  a  single  fiat, 
to-morrow,  would  you  not  have  to  go  right  to  work  the  next 
day,  and  undo  what  you  have  done,  or  do  more  ?  Is  not  sla¬ 
very  as  it  exists  in  your  country,  better  than  it  is  in  Africa, 
and  better  than  to  have  the  slaves  free  to  destroy  them¬ 
selves  and  others?  Is  not  slavery  the  best  thing,  until 
slave  and  master  are  qualified  to  live  together  in  the  re¬ 
lations  of  freemen?  It  seems  to  me  that  some  of  the  North-* 
ern  abolitionists  entirely  mistake  the  subject  on  which  they 
are  so  noisy.  Do  they  not  put  back  the  very  cause  they  wish 
to  advance  ? 

“  A  matter  of  conscience  ?”  Ah  !  is  not  that  your  danger  ? 
Is  not  a  conscience  that  is  false  to  civil  government  false  to 
God?  Were  not  the  powers  that  be  ordained  of  God,  even 
in  the  oppressive  rule  of  the  Apostles’  day  ?  Is  not  a  mis¬ 
guided  religious  conscience  the  material  with  which  ambitious 
demagogues  work  to  accomplish  their  ends?  Is  not  the  Qua¬ 
ker  conscience  (there  happened  to  be  the  son  of  a  Quaker 
present,  to  whom  he  gracefully  apologised,)  I  say,  then,  has 
the  philosophy  that  makes  conscience  a  guide,  a  light  within, 
a  sovereign  dictator,  any  logical  stopping  place,  until  it  exalts 
reason  above  the  Bible  as  man  above  God?  And  how  long 
can  any  free  government  stand  that?  Will  there  not  come  a 
strain  on  your  government  which  it  cannot  bear,  unless  you 
think  less  of  persons  and  more  of  God  ;  less  of  rights  and 
more  of  duties  ? 

I  am  ignorant  of  the  facts,  sir,  but  I  would  venture  to  in¬ 
quire  whether  your  most  intense  advocates  of  liberty,  free  dis¬ 
cussion,  abolition,  equal  rights,  &c.,  are  not  generally  men  of 
infidel  sentiments?  And  are  not  Christians  in  danger  of  im¬ 
bibing  their  spirit,  and  worship  liberty  and  themselves  more 


590' 


Miscellaneous . 


[Feb. 


than  God  ?  Will  not  such  a  spirit  eventually  ruin  both  Church 
and  State  together? 


ORIGINAL. 


BEULAH. 

Thy  land  shall  be  called  Beulah,  for  the  Lord  delight- 
©th  in  thee.— Isa.  lxii.  4. 


BY  REV.  CHAS.  E.  LEVERETT. 

Land  of  the  spirits’  home, 

How  bright  thy  glories  are  1 
What  beams  of  sparkling  lustre  come. 

To  crown  the  sainted  there  ; 

More  brilliant  than  the  rays  that  roam 
From  light  of  morning  star !. 

What  sounds  are  thine  alone, 

Land !  where  the  spirits  rest ; 

Sweeter  than  earth-born  music’s  tone, 

Of  harmony  coufest ; 

Gladder  than  choral  numbers,  known 
To  charm  the  way  war  d  breast. 

And  sights  of  beauty  gleam, 

Beulah !  along  thy  shore ; 

Fair  Eden,  in  the  sweetest  dream 
Of  imagery’s  store, 

Filled  were  the  cup  unto  the  brim, 

The  glowing  thought  ne’er  bore. 

Blessings  of  priceless  worth. 

O  spirits’  land  are  thine  1 
Such  as  conceived  not,  heart  on  earth, 

Nor  reason’s  power  divine  ; 

Land  of  the  soul’s  immortal  birth, 

May  thy  full  bliss  be  mine! 

[  Leveret? s  Colh  Hymns  aud  Devotional  Verse . 


HURRIED  DEVOTIONS. 

Probably,  many  of  us  would  be  discomposed  by  an  arith¬ 
metical  estimate  of  our  communion  with  God.  It  misfht  re- 
veal  to  us  the  secret  of  much  of  our  apathy  in  prayer,  because 
it  might  disclose  how  little  we  desire  to  be  alone  with 
God.  We  might  learn  from  such  a  computation  that  Au¬ 
gustine’s  idea  of  prayer,  as  “  the  measure  of  love,”  is  not 
very  flattering  to  us.  We  do  not  grudge  time  given  to  a 
privilege  which  we  love. 

Why  should  we  expect  to  enjoy  a  duty  -which  we  have  no 


1861.] 


Hurried  Devotions . 


591 


time  to  enjoy  ?  Do  we  enjoy  anything  which  we  do  in  a  hurry  ? 
Enjoyment  presupposes  something  of  mental  leisure.  How 
often  do  we  say  of  a  pleasure,  “  I  wanted  more  time  to  enjoy 
it  to  my  heart’s  content!”  But  of  all  employments,  none  can 
be  more  dependent  on  “  time  for  it,”  than  stated  prayer. 

Fugitive  acts  of  devotion,  to-  be  of  high  value,  must  be  sus¬ 
tained  by  other  approaches  to  God,  deliberate,  premeditated, 
regular — which  shall  be  to  those  acts  like  the  abutments  of  a 
suspension-bridge  to  the  arch  that  spans  the  stream.  It  will 
never  do  to  be  in  desperate  haste  in  laying  such  foundations. 
This  thoughtful  duty,  this  spiritual  privilege,  this  foretaste  of 
uncorporeal  life,  this  communion  with  an  unseen  Friend — can 
you  expect  to  enjoy  it  as  you  would  a  repartee  or  dance  ? 

In  the  royal  gallery  at  Dresden  may  be  often  seen  a  group 
of  connoisseurs,  who  sit  for  hours  before  a  single  painting. 
They  walk  around  those  halls  and  corridors,  whose  walls  are 
so  eloquent  with  the  triumphs  of  art,  and  they  come  back  and 
pause  again  before  that  one  masterpiece.  They  go  away  and 
return  the  next  day,  and  again  the*  first  and  last  object  which 
charms  their  eye,  is  that  canvas  on  which  genius  has  pictured 
more  of  beauty  than  on  any  other  in  the  world.  Weeks  are 
spent  every  year  in  the  study  of  that  one  work  of  BaphaeL 
Lovers  of  art  cannot  enjoy  it  to  the  full  till  they  have  made  it 
their  own  by  prolonged  communion  with  its  matchless  forms. 
Says  one  of  its  admirers  :  “  I  could  spend  an  hour  every  day 
for  years,  upon  that  assemblage  of  human,  and  angelic,  and 
divine  ideas,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  last  year  discover  some 
new  beauty,  and  a  new  joy.” 

I  have  seen  men  standing  in  the  street,  before  an  engraving 
of  that  gem  of  the  Dresden  gallery,  a  longer  time  than  a  good 
man  will  sometimes  devote  to  his  evening  prayer.  Yet,  what 
thoughts,  What  ideals  of  grace  can  genius  express  in  a  paint¬ 
ing,  demanding  time  for  their  appreciation  and  enjoyment, 
like  those  great  thoughts  of  God,  of  heaven,  of  eternity,  which 
the  soul  needs  to  conceive  vividly,  in  order  to  know  the  bless¬ 
edness  of  prayer  ?  What  conceptions  can  art  imagine  of  the 
“  Divine  Child,”  which  can  equal  in  spirituality  the  thoughts 
which  one  needs  to  entertain  of  Christ,  in  the  “  prayer  of 
faith?”  We  cannot  Lope,  commonly,  to  spring  into  possession 
of  such  thoughts  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. —  The  Still  Hour . 

- *• « - 

OUB  SONSHIP  CONCEALED. 

It  cannot  but  be  so,  when  sonship  is  in  any  conjunction 
with  sin»  Immediately,  on  such  conjunction^  the  sonship, 


592 


Miscellaneous . 


[Feb. 


though  not  overthrown,  is  concealed.  Its  fullness  of  grace 
and  truth,  its  impregnable,  inviolable  security,  its  splendors  of 
convincing  evidence,  its  unsearchable  riches  of  privilege,  its 
incorruptible  and  undefiled  inheritance  that  fadeth  not  away, 
all  retire  out  of  view,  and  remain  concealed.  They  may  all 
abide,  most  sure  and  full,  in  the  spiritual  kingdoip.  that  trans- 
cendeth  time  and  sense.  But  on  the  platform  of  temporal  in¬ 
terests  and  things  palpable  to  sense  and  reason,  the  evidence 
of  the  sonship  has  vanished.  And  not  only  so,  all  that  on  that 
platform  might  seem  relevant  to  the  question  gives  an  adverse 
testimony.  The  son  would  appear  to  be  treated  as  an  outcast. 
Apparently  he  is  disowned. 

This  is  temptation.  It  is  the  essence,  it  is  the  great  and  all 
embracing  cause  of  temptation.  To  be  a  son  of  God,  verily 
and  irrefragably,  and  yet  to  have  no  evidence  of  it  within  the 
sphere  of  sense  and  time  and  reason,  but  every  thing  in  these 
categories  rather  contradicting  your  claim,  this  is  your  proba¬ 
tion  of  God  while  here  ;  this  is  what  Satan  malignantly  mana¬ 
ges  against  you. 

But  no.  “  It  doth  not  yet  appear.”  Frankly  must  we  own 
that  no  perceptible  priestly  robes  of  primogeniture,  whiter 
than  the  snow,  adorn  us  ;  and  no  fair  mitre  made  after  any 
pattern  shown  in  the  mount,  to  certify  that  we  are  priests. 
No  throne,  no  sceptre,  no  regalia  have  we,  in  proof  that  Christ 
hath  loved  us  and  made  us  kings.  And  no  Mahanaim  of  the 
Lord,  no  visible  augelic  hosts,  encompass  us  on  either  hand, 
proclaiming  :  “  Thus  shall  it  be  done  to  the  man  whom  the 
king  delighteth  to  honor.”  Nor  do  the  forests  clap  their  hands 
at  our  approach,  nor  do  the  mountains  and  the  hills  break 
forth  into  singing,  in  welcome  to  the  sons  and  heirs  of  the 
King  of  glory. 

Rather,  the  whole  creation  groaneth  because  our  sonship  is 
hidden,  waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  it.  (Rom.  viii.  19.) 
There  is  a  shameful  cross  lying  heavy  on  our  shoulder,  rather 
than  a  graceful  diadem  shining  on  our  head.  No  palm  of  vic¬ 
tory  is  ours,  but  the  trembling  and  the  toil  of  battle.  Dis¬ 
eases  grapple  with  our  frame,  having  no  respect  to  our  adop¬ 
tion.  And  manifold  afflictions  fall  on  us — even  more  than  on 
other  men.  (Ps.  lxxiii.)  And  the  sighings  thereof  clash  rude¬ 
ly  on  the  ear  of  sense  with  our  high  claim  to  be  the  family  and 
seed-royal  of  heaven.  And  death  at  last  confronts  us,  and 
makes  it  far  more  manifest  that  we  are  victims  of  the  loath¬ 
some  grave,  than  sons  of  God  and  immortality,  as  if  we  must 
say  unto  corruption — not  to  God — Thou  art  my  father  ;  and 
to  the  worm,  Thou  art  my  sister  ;  rather  than  the  Son  of  God 


1861.] 


“Be  Sure  your  Sms  will  Find  you  Out.” 


593 


calls  us  His  brethren.  Verily  our  sonship  is  concealed.  “  Onr 
life  is  hid.” — Christ's  Presence  in  the  Gospel  History. 


“BE  SURE  YOUR  SINS  WILL  BIND  YOU  OUT.” 

Some  years  since,  the  Express  Company  of  Wells,  Butter¬ 
field  &  Co.,  running  into  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  was 
robbed  of  $50,000.  It  was  abstracted  from  their  express 
car,  by  substituting  a  box  of  lead  for  one  filled  with  gold  coin. 
So  exact  was  the  resemblance,  that  the  fraud  was  not  discov¬ 
ered  until  the  box  was  opened  at  the  Government  office  in 
New  York.  It  consisted  of  U.  S.  funds  from  the  land  office  at 
St.  Pauls,  and  as  the  express  company  was  responsible,  they 
immediately  replaced  it  from  their  own  treasury. 

At  the  time  of  the  robbery,  there  was  not  the  remotest  sus¬ 
picion  of  the  perpetrator.  The  officers  could  not  fix  their  eye 
or  thoughts  upon  any  individual,  and  although  the  whole  mat¬ 
ter  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  experienced  detective  police  offi¬ 
cers,  they  were  embarrassed  at  the  outset.  But  suddenly  their 
suspicions  were  roused,  and  a  point  fixed  to  which  all  their  at¬ 
tention  was  directed.  The  express  agent  who  had  the  trea¬ 
sure  in  charge,  was  an  old,  faithful  officer,  and  so  strong  was 
the  confidence  of  the  officers  in  his  integrity,  that  he  was  never 
alluded  to  as  party  to  the  bold  robbery.  But  suddenly,  with¬ 
out  any  apparent  cause,  he  resigned  his  position.  From  that 
hour,  running  through  successive  months,  an  unseen  detective 
was  constantly  on  his  track.  He  was  followed  to  New  Eng¬ 
land,  to  his  native  place  in  Massachusetts,  back  to  New  York, 
to  the  Western  States,  over  railways,  up  and  dovyn  rivers,  into 
hotels  and  places  of  public  resort,  until  all  his  movements, 
companions  and  objects  of  pursuit  were  perfectly  familiar  to 
the  unseen  shadow  which  had  so  long  and  so  diligently  follow¬ 
ed  him. 

The  proof  having  accumulated,  the  circumstantial  evidence 
grew  so  strong,  that  at  the  proper  place  and  time  he  was  ar¬ 
rested.  Partial  confession  was  made,  and  others  implicated, 
and  the  whole  thing,  with  its  details,  was  brought  to  the  light. 
Had  he  not  resigned  his  office,  it  is  questionable  whether  the 
guilty  parties  would  ever  have  been  known.  It  was  ascer¬ 
tained  that  the  express  agent,  with  two  or  three  employees  of 
the  road,  had  arranged  the  robbery  with  such  consummate  skill, 
that  detection  was  almost  impossible.  Before  they  secured 
the  treasure,  it  was  agreed  to  bury  it  in  a  certain  place,  where 
it  was  to  remain  until  suspicion  was  allayed  and  the  matter 


594 


Miscellaneous. 


[Feb. 


forgotten.  This  was  only  partially  carried  out.  The  confed¬ 
erates  of  the  express  agent,  opened  the  box  and  took  out  their 
share.  This  led  to  a  quarrel,  and  the  agent  secured  his  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  proceeds,  and  at  once  most  incautiously,  resign¬ 
ed  his  office,  and  went  into  the  investment  of  his  funds.  He 
bought  farms  and  horses  and  jewelry,  and  although  this  was 
done  in  obscure  and  distant  places,  it  all  revealed  itself  to  the 
vigilant  detectives,  who  saw  through  the  whole  shallow  dis¬ 
guise.  The  sequel  was  the  conviction  of  two  or  three  of  the 
robbers,  a  recovery  of  a  portion  of  the  property,  and  the  com¬ 
mitment  to  the  State  Prison  of  the  express  agent,  who,  for 
years  had  been  among  the  most  confidential  and  reliable  men 
of  the  company. 

In  harmony  with  detection  in  the  above  case,  is  the  onejust 
brought  to  light  on  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  railway. 
Last  spring,  during  one  of  the  night  trips  of  the  express  agent 
of  Adams  &  Co.’s.,  the  iron  safe,  containing  a  large  amount  of 
money  and  valuable  papers,  was  abstracted  from  the  cars.  It 
was  found  the  next  day  under  a  bridge,  'with  its  sides  broken, 
and  the  funds  extracted.  The  audacity  of  the  thing,  stealing 
an  iron  safe,  surprised  every  one.  But  it  had  passed  out  of 
sight  with  the  public,  until  last  week,  when  three  arrests  were 
made  on  the  road,  of  responsible  employees,  as  guilty  of  the 
robbery.  Ever  since  this  outrage,  police  detectives  have  been 
on  the  trail  of  certain  men  connected  with  the  road,  until  evi¬ 
dence  of  their  crime  has  accumulated  sufficient  to  justify  their 
arrest.  Their  guilt,  it  is  thought,  can  be  clearly  established. 
What  a  moral  this  enforces !  Though  no  human  eye  sees, 
there  is  one  which  never  closes,  and  it  is  that  which  brings 
erime  from  {jarkness  to  light. 


MOUKDEN,  THE  KEFUGE  OF  THE  EMPEROR 

OF  CHINA. 

The  Moniteur  de  V Armee  publishes  the  following  extremely 
interesting  account  of  the  place  to  which  the  Chinese  Emperor 
fled,  when  Peking  was  taken  by  the  Allies : 

Moukden  is  not  in  Tartary  properly  so  called,  but  in  Mant- 
cliouria.  The  country  of  the  Mantchoux,  forms  part  of  the  in¬ 
terior  provinces  of  the  Empire,  and  comprises  three  depart¬ 
ments.  The  first  is  that  of  Ching-King,  having  for  its  chief 
town  Moukden,  or  Foung-Thean  ;  the  second,  Ghirin,  with  a 
chief  town  of  the  same  name  ;  and  the  third,  is  Sakhalien- 
Oula  Khoton,  with  Tsi-Tsikar  as  its  capital.  It  is  in  the  coun¬ 
try  of  the  Mantchoux,  that  are  to  be  found  the  most  devoted 


1861.] 


595 


Poetry ,  fyc. 


partisans  of  the  Tartar-Mantclioux  dynasty*  which  effected  the 
conquest  of  China  in  1644,  and  still  reigns  over  that  vast 
empire.  Mantchouria  is  separated  from  the  province  of  Petche- 
li,  in  which  Pekin  is  situated,  by  that  of  Laotang.  Between 
the  two  last-named  provinces  are  the  high  mountains  of  Than- 
Yen,  which  are  of  difficult  access,  and  must  have  protected  the 
retreat  of  the  Emperor.  Moukden  is  about  400  kilometres 
(5-8ths  of  a  mile  each)  from  Pekin.  If  the  Emperor  had  re¬ 
tired  into  Tartary  properly  so  called,  he  would  have  had  to 
make  a  journey  across  Mongolia  of  1,000  kilometres  (625 
miles),  and  pass  through  some  provinces,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  are  completely  hostile  to  him.  We  may  add,  in  order 
to  explain  the  English  despatch,  that  at  Hong-Kong,  Shang¬ 
hai,  and  in  the  ports  on  the  coast  inhabited  by  Europeans,  all 
the  Chinese  possessions  which  have  been  formerly  conquered 
by  the  Tartars  and  by  the  Tartar  Mantchoux — -such  as  Mon¬ 
golia,  Mantchouria,  Dzoungaria,  Daouria,  and  Chinese  Tur¬ 
kestan — are  all  comprised  under  the  general  and  usual  name 
of  Tartary.  Moukden  was  the  residence  of  the  Sovereigns  of 
China  until  1644,  the  period  of  the  conquest.  It  comprises 
two  distinct  .cities— -the  Imperial  one,  which  has  a  circumfer¬ 
ence  of  four  kilometres,  and  a  magnificent  palace  ;  and  the 
other,  which  surrounds  the  former,  and  is  twelve  kilometres 
round,  and  enclosed  by  a  wall  much  more  considerable  than 
that  of  Pekin.  The  population  of  Moukden  does  not  now  ex¬ 
ceed  500,000.  The  city  contains  very  fine  temples,  and  mag¬ 
nificent  buildings  of  all  kinds. 

SELECTED. 

THE  OLD  YEAR  AND  THE  NEW. 

Fast,  past  and  gone  ;  another  year  is  ended  ; 

Its  changeless  record  sealed  from  mortal  sight } 

Its  last  fair  sun  hath  silently  descended 
To  the  deep  stillness  of  its  final  night. 

’Tis  past  and  gone — with  every  wasted  hour, 

With  every  deed  of  holiness  and  sin. 

Vain  is  our  wish — vain  all  our  boasted  power, 

A  single  moment  from  the  past  to  win. 

Gone  with  its  sins — gone  with  its  weight  of  sorrow 
That  seemed  so  heavy  and  so  hard  to  bear  ; 

Though  all  we  thought  a  burden  for  the  morrow. 

As  we  look  backward,  loses  half  its  care. 

We  mourn  no  longer  now  with  useless  grieving 
For  the  cold  shadows  that  have  crossed  our  life  < 

The  promise  now  seems  easier  of  believing 
That  when  we  felt  the  presence  of  the  strife. 

75 


596 


Editorial  and  Critical . 


[Feb., 


And  He,  whose  grace  thus  far  our  way  has  guided, 

Will  make  the  future  road  as  true  and  clear. 

Our  Lord’s  own  hand  the  armor  has  provided 
To  guard  our  journey  through  this  new-born  year. 

Why  should  we  shrink  and  call  our  joys  uncertain  ? 

Why  fear  the  way  that  leads  us  to  our  home  ?  , 

What  though  our  Father’s  hand  has  drawn  a  curtain 
Between  our  vision  and  the  days  to  come  ? 

Not  on  the  past — not  onward — but  to  Heaven 

Our  anxious  hearts,  our  troubled  thoughts  should  rise  \ 

The  stars,  that  as  the  sailor’s  chart  are  given, 

Avail  him  not  unless  he  search  the  skies. 

The  year  is  gone — its  suffering  and  its  sinning 
Have  borne  their  record  to  the  realms  of  night  3 
But  on  the  pages  that  are  just  beginning, 

Our  hearts  and  lives  in  fairer  lines  may  write. 

O,  solemn  thought !  To  work  our  own  salvation  ! 

O,  solemn  voyage  across  an  unknown  sea  ! 

Our  barques  could  never  reach  their  destination, 

Oux  souls  their  rest — but,  Lord,  we  come  to  Thee  ; 

We  ask  Thy  love,  to  comfort  and  to  cherish; 

Thy  strength  when  weak — Thy  courage  when  we  fear ; 

Our  confidence  in  Thee  will  never  perish, 

Though  clouds  and  darkness  veil  this  opening  year. 

[  IV.  Churchman. 


CHITICAli. 


ME.  VANDYKE’S  SEEMON. 

We  have  surrendered  a  very  unusual  portion  of  our  Miscel¬ 
laneous  department  to  the  republication  of  Mr.  Vandyke’s 
sermon.-  Those  of  our  readers,  who  have  not  seen  it,  will 
thank  us  for  putting  it  within  their  reach.  Its  clear,  manly 
and  forcible  exposition  of  the  evils  and  nnscripturalness  of 
Abolitionism,  are  beyond  praise.  Had  such  sermons  been 
mere  common  at  the  North,  the  present  portentous  crisis  of 
our  history  might  have  been  indefinitely  postponed.  As  it  is, 
we  fear  these  efforts  have  come  too  late  to  effect  their  purpose. 
They  can  now  serve  but  one  end,  and  that  is,  to  point  out  un- 
inistakeably  where  and  upon  whom  rests  the  responsibility  of 
the  disruption  of  the  Confederacy. 


THE  PROTESTANT  CHURCHMAN. 

This  prominent  Episcopal  weekly  is  taking  the  lead  of  our 
religious  press,  in  favor  of  coercive  measures — in  other  words,, 


1801.] 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


597 


in  favor  of  war  by  the  Northern  against  the  Southern 
States,  to  compel  the  latter  to  remain  in  the  Union  against 
their  will,  and  in  defiance  of  the  express  resolutions  of  their 
primary  assemblies.  The  Editors  say  that  they  have  received 
letters  from  various  parts  of  the  South,  even  from  South  Caro¬ 
lina,  but  will  not  publish  them  because,  although  some  at  least, 
are  written  in  a  calm  enough  tone,  the  'principles  they  express 
are  too  monstrous  to  be  allowed  a  place  in  their  columns.  Of 
the  propriety  of  this  resolution,  they  are  of  course  the  only 
judges,  as  the  public  are  not  permitted  to  see  and  judge  for 
themselves,  but  it  seems  to  us  a  strange  mode  of  advancing 
the  cause  of  truth. 

They  go  on,  however,  to  present  their  own  conclusions,  which 
we  now  propose  to  lay  before  our  readers,  although  to  us  they 
appear  fully  as  monstrous  as  any  thing  which  could  possibly 
have  been  written,  on  the  other  side — even  from  South  Caro¬ 
lina.  The  italics  are  ours.  After  disavowing  a  partisan  or 
Northern  stand-point,  the  Editor  or  Editors  go  on  to  say : — 

“  What  we  have  intended  to  express  is  an  abhorrence  of  revo¬ 
lution,  with  all  its  adjuncts  and  consequences,  in  this  the  best 
Government  and  the  happiest  land  on  earth.  We  have  called  it 
“madness,”  and  our  only  doubt  about  the  propriety  of  the  term 
now  is,  whether  it  is  expressive  enough.  Our  readers  will  bear 
us  witness  that  our  paper  has  not  been  lent  to  the  discussion  of 
political  questions.  We  have  refrained  from  all  such  discussions, 
not  because  we  had  no  convictions  on  various  subjects,  whether 
local  or  general,  that  have  agitated  the  country,  nor  yet  because 
we  were  afraid,  under  the  responsibility  of  our  own  manhood,  to 
express,  at  the  proper  time  and  place,  our  views,  but  because,  in 
common  with  Episcopal  journalists  generally,  we  have  not  re¬ 
garded  these  questions  as  within  the  proper  range  of  a  distinctly 
religious  periodical.  It  was  only  when  what  seemed  to  us  a  dread¬ 
ful  phrenzy,  purely  anarchical  in  its  tendency,  ruled  the  hour,  that 
we  felt  constrained  to  speak  a  word.  We  have  no  heart  to  mul¬ 
tiply  words,  especially  when  there  is  so  little  prospect,  as  things 
now  are,  of  making  any  salutary  impression.” 

Now  it  seems  to  us,  that  only  by  a  “  monstrous  ”  perversion 
of  terms  can  the  movement,  at  present  pervading  the  South, 
be  characterized  as  a  “  madness”  and  “  a  dreadful  phrenzy, 
purely  anarchical  in  its  tendency.”  Men’s  pulses  cannot  be 
expected  to  beat  as  temperately  in  days  of  revolution  as  they 
do  during  the  prevalence  of  political  peace.  Hence  the  South¬ 
ern  movement  has  been  energetic — its  impulses  have  been 
rapid  and  decisive,  but  its  energy  has  been  the  energy  of  law, 
and  its  impulses  those  of  a  people  acting  from  instincts  of  self- 
preservation — yet  acting  according  to  the  modes  which  history 


598 


Editorial  and  Critical . 


[Feb., 


and  tradition  have  rendered  sacred  in  its  eyes.  There  has 
been  no  anarchy  at  the  South,  even  where  there  has  been 
most  excitement.  The  forms  of  law  have  been  scrupulously 
observed,  except  in  those  few  instances  in  which  the  mani¬ 
fested  design  of  the  Federal  authority  to  garrison  strongholds 
within  our  borders,  and  evidently  with  a  purpose  of  coercing, 
and  if  need  be,  subjugating  the  seceding  States,  rendered 
delay  inconsistent  with  the  public  safety.  Not  a  drop  of  blood 
has  been  shed.  And  our  own  State  has  borne  from  week  to 
week  the  presence  of  a  hostile  force  in  the  harbor  of  her  chief 
city,  hoping  by  negotiation  to  prevent  the  necessity  of  an  ap¬ 
peal  to  arms.  During  the  greater  part  of  this  Revolutionary 
period,  her  Convention  and  her  Legislature  have  both  been  in 
session,  providing  most  carefully  against  any  confusion  which 
such  organic  changes  might  beget.  We  believe  that  the  his- 
tory  of  the  world  can  present  few,  if  any,  parallels  to  the 
unanimity,  dignity  and  forbearance  with  which  South  Carolina 
has  acted  throughout,  and  the  first  care  of  her  Convention, 
after  her  own  independence  was  asserted,  was  to  elect  dele¬ 
gates  to  a  Southern  Congress,  and  to  propose  the  existing 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  as  the  basis  of  a  new  Con¬ 
federacy.  If  there  is  any  tendency  to  anarchy  in  all  this,  we 
are  at  a  loss  to  perceive  it.  There  is  a  tendency  to  division — 
to  separation  from  the  Northern  States,  and  this  we  devoutly 
hope  may  be  accomplished,  and  if  anarchy  results  to  them,  it 
will  result  from  their  own  misconceptions  of  the  nature  of  the 
Federal  Government  and  the  loss  of  those  ideas  of  constitutional 
checks  and  balances,  which  are  the  only  preservatives  in  this 
country  against  the  tyranny  of  a  numerical  majority.  But  this 
brings  us  to  the  next  count  in  this  extraordinary  indictment. 
The  Protestant  Churchman  goes  on  to  say  : — 

“One  thing,  however,  is,  we  think,  apparent — that  the  popula¬ 
tion  of  the  country  is  rapidly  resolving  itself  into  two  great  classes 
-—the  law  and  order  party,  and  the  party  of  anarchy  and  revolu¬ 
tion.  Almost  the  entire  North  is  becoming  homogeneous  in  the 
first  of  these  classes.  We  believe  we  may  truly  say  to  our  friends 
and  brethren  at  the  South,  that  the  deep  and  strong  current  of 
feeling  and  opinion  here — a  current  swelled  by  all  the  highest 
and  best  elements  of  society,  without  distinction  of  party— is  in 
favor  of  maintaining  this  Government  at  all  hazards.  The  mass 
of  the  people  feel  that  the  very  existence  of  American  liberty 
and  civilization  depends  on  it,  and  Christians  feel  that  the  cause 
of  the  Master  is  involved  in  it.  All  feel  that  the  quiet  allowance 
of  disorganization  and  revolution  by  a  Government  that  has  the 
power  to  protect  itself,  and  continue  to  scatter  its  blessings  over 
the  whole  land,  would  be  to  proclaim  the  everlasting  disgrace, 


1861.] 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


699 


not  only  of  our  nation,  but  of  our  race,  and  be  an  invitation  to 
lawless  anarchy,  since  it  would  show  to  all  who  desired  to  inau¬ 
gurate  a  reign  of  terror,  that  there  was  no  authority  to  curb  them.” 

“How  forcible  are  right  words,  but  what  doth  your  arguincr 
reprove  ?”  When  good  men  have  a  lie  in  their  right  hands 
they  are  very  apt  to  double  their  fists.  This  serves  as  well  to 
hide  tlie  ugly  thing  from  themselves  as  to  knock  down  their 
unoffending  brethren.  Did  it  never  occur  to  the  Editor  while 
penning  these  warlike  sentences,  that  there  are  times  when  a 
revolution  is  the  only  means  of  maintaining  law  and  order  ? 
and  when  they  who  are  for  enforcing  existing  laws,  or  laws 
said  by  them  to  exist,  are  the  worst  of  anarchists  ?  We  admit 
that  the  population  of  the  country  is  rapidly  resolving  itself 
into  two  great  classes,  but  think  it  would  have  been  a  more 
candid  statement  to  have  described  these  classes  as  composed 
on  one  side  of  the  people  of  the  North,  and  on  the  other  of 
the  people  of  the  South.  This  is  the  fact.  But  stated  in  this 
way,  all  the  force  of  the  argument  or  rhetoric  would  have  been 
destroyed.  The  present  controversy  would  then  have  appeared 
to  be,  not  a  controversy  between  law  abiding  men  and  an¬ 
archists,  but  as  a  great  sectional  division,  with  fifteen  organ¬ 
ized  States  on  the  one  side,  and  seventeen  on  the  other  ;  the 
former  maintaining  their  right  to  provide  for  themselves  and 
govern  themselves,  and  the  latter  claiming  the  right  to  govern 
themselves,  and  the  others  also.  What  now  becomes  of  the 
law  and  order  party?  Is  it  not  a  mere  force  party?  Some 
remarks  recently  made  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at 
Washington,  by  Mr.  Pendleton  of  Ohio,  are  so  much  to  the 
point,  and  receive  so  much  additional  weight  from  the  quarter 
whence  they  came,  that  we  will  quote  some  passages  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Editor  of  the  Protestant  Cliurclima7i.  After 
showing  that  the  Republicans  did  not  intend  to  enforce  the 
civil  and  criminal  laws  of  the  United  States  within  the  seceding 
States,  nor  to  continue  the  mail  service  against  the  will  of 
those  States,  but  only  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws.  He  added  : 

“  They  were  willing  to  suspend  these  laws  ;  why  not  suspend 
those  for  the  collection  of  the  revenue  as  well  ?  Gentlemen  then 
say  they  must  maintain  the  Union  by  these  coercive  measures. 
He  yielded  to  no  one  in  devotion  to  the  Union,  and  his  constit¬ 
uents  cling  to  it  with  tenacity.  If  men  and  money  could  keep  it 
together,  millions  of  both  would  be  furnished  by  the  West.  But 
neither  men,  money  nor  blood  could  maintain  the  Union;  justice, 
reason  and  peace  might.  The  government  was  a  government  of 
confederated  States.  In  order  to  preserve  Union,  every  State 
should  do  its  duty,  and  no  force  could  compel  this  action  except 
by  the  consent  of  the  people  of  each  State. 


GOO 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


[Feb., 


“If  a  State  chose  to  levy  duties  in  opposition  to  the  constitu¬ 
tion,  he  did  not  see  how  it  could  be  prevented  by  arms.  The 
whole  idea  of  coercion  was  impracticable.  If  a  State  was  subju¬ 
gated,  the  idea  upon  which  the  Union  was  formed  would  be  vio¬ 
lated.  If  they  had  the  physical  power  they  might  overrun  or 
obliterate  a  State,  but  they  could  not  compel  it  to  do  that  to  which 
it  was  opposed,  lie  argued  to  show  that  coercion  meant  war  and 
nothing  else,  and  looked  to  the  invasion  of  States  which  had 
thrown  off  their  obligations  to  the  Federal  Government.  The 
enforcement  of  the  laws  against  a  seceding  State  was  coercion, 
and  coercion  was  nothing  less  than  war.  This  was  sought  to  be 
done  under  the  cry  of  law  and  order,  and  under  the  pretext  of 
collecting  the  revenue,  which  was  the  same  argument  employed 
by  Great  Britain  in  1768  against  her  North  American  colonies. 
The  Boston  port  bill  resulted,  and  the  law  was  attempted  to  be 
enforced  at  Bunker  Hill  and  Lexington,  at  Cowpens  and  at  York- 
town. 

“  After  seven  years  of  fighting  against  apparently  weak  and 
feeble  opposition,  Boston  having  then  a  population  of  16,000, 
George  the  III.  was  compelled  to  make  peace.  History  would 
have  recorded  him  as  a  wiser  monarch  had  he  done  so  at  first, 
and  saved  the  horrors  and  calamities  of  war.  But  he  undertook 
to  enforce  the  law  against  every  principle  of  freedom  contained 
in  the  British  constitution.  They  of  to-day  should  learn  prudence 
from  our  colonial  history.  Fifteen  States  of  the  Union  came 
there  with  their  complaints,  and  they  should  be  listened  to,  their 
grievances  redressed  and  their  fears  removed. 

“  He  said  they  were  tlieir  brethren,  and  it  was  a  patriotic  duty 
to  hear  and  heed  them.  By  composing  these  sectional  agitations 
the  Union  could  be  preserved.  His  voice  to-day  was  for  concilia¬ 
tion,  and  in  that  he  but  echoed  the  voice  of  his  constituents.  He 
begged  those  who  had  the  power  to  redress  the  complaints  of  the 
South  to  do  so,  or  let  them  depart  in  peace  and  establish  their 
own  destiny .” 

This  is  the  dictate  of  common  sense  as>  well  as  of  Christian 
forbearance,  but  it  is  not,  we  are  sorry  to  say,  the  voice  of  the 
Protestant  Churchman.  It  repeats  with  emphasis  a  phrase, 
now  common  at  the  North,  that  this  Union  must  be  maintained 
“at  every  hazard Fearful  language  and  most  fearful  when 
heard  from  the  lips  of  a  Christian  man.  Another  religious 
paper  from  the  far  West  translates  it  thus,  and  we  are 
bound  to  say,  more  honestly  than  the  Protestant  Churchman . 
Better,  it  says,  that  half  a  million  lives  should  be  sacrificed 
than  that  the  Union  should  perish.  Does  the  Protestant 
Churchman  endorse  this  sentiment,  or  was  its  editorial  penned 
in  a  “phrenzy”  of  excitement  ?  Still  worse,  all  this  hideous 
dragooning  of  seceded  States  back  to  the  deathly  embraces  of 
Abolitionism  is  to  be  accomplished  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ, 


1861.] 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


601 


for  adds  the  Protestant  Churchman ,  “Christians  feel  that  the 
cause  of  the  Master  is  involved  in  it.”  Another  crusade  is  to 
be  preached — all  under  the  pretext  of  “Law  and  Order,”  and 
its  scenes  of  desolation  of  rapine  and  blood  are  to  have  the 
sanction  of  Ministers  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Who  now  are 
the  anarchists?  They  who  are  seeking  to  withdraw  peaceably 
from  a  confederation  of  States,  which  they  find  no  longer  com¬ 
patible  with  their  safety,  and  who  are  doing  this  not  anarchi- 
cally,  but  in  great  constituted  bodies — using  no  factious  vio¬ 
lence  or  unfair  means  to  achieve  their  purpose ;  but  delibe¬ 
rately,  with  all  the  forms  of  law,  taking  the  sense  of  every 
qualified  voter  in  their  midst,  or  they  who,  because  their  hopes 
are  disappointed  and  their  interests  endangered,  would  spread 
the  horrors  of  war  through  a  peaceful  land  and  deluge  it  with 
blood  ? 

We  have  already  extended  this  notice  of  the  principles  pro¬ 
fessed  by  the  Protestant  Churchman  beyond  reasonable  length, 
yet  we  cannot  close  without  giving  it  the  benefit  of  all  in  its 
article  that  may  tend  to  soften  its  spirit,  and  represent  it  in  a 
more  Christian  light.  It  is  not  much,  but  let  it  go  for  what 
it  is  worth.  The  whole  article  then  thus  concludes : — 

“  At  the  same  time,  all  are  fully  aware  that  the  permanence  of 
the  Union  can  only  be  secured  finally  by  a  restoration  of  at  least 
a  measure  of  good-will  between  the  sections,  or  rather  of  good¬ 
will  from  the  Southern  section  towards  the  Northern.  To  bring 
about  this  restoration  of  confidence  and  kindly  feeling,  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  here,  we  are  assured,  are  ready  to  make  any 
reasonable  accommodation.  Let  our  Southern  brethren  so  far 
credit  this  as  to  show  a  readiness  to  be  conciliated,  and  they  will 
find  this  section  ready  to  go  to  the  very  verge  of  principle  to  meet 
them. 

“It  is  said  by  many  that  we  are  drifting  rapidly  into  civil  war; 
and  certainly,  if  we  did  not  have  a  strong  trust  in  God,  to  whom 
multitudes  are  daily  praying,  we  should  have  the  gloomiest  fore¬ 
bodings.  In  that  trust,  however,  we  will  still  put  from  us  fear. 
“Jehovah  Jireli,”  is  a  good  motto  at  such  times.  Still,  however 
strong  our  confidence  may  be  in  Divine  interposition  in  this  crisis 
of  our  history,  we  should  not  allow  it  to  blind  us  to  the  imminent 
danger  before  us,  lest  we  fail  to  use  all  the  means  of  preservation 
by  which  God  will  work.  There  is  one  thing  especially  which  it 
were  of  the  highest  importance  to  impress  upon  all,  especially 
those  who  are  so  hotly  urging  on  the  secession  movement.  It  is, 
that  no  possible  calamity  to  any  section,  in  the  Union,  can  for  a 
moment  compare  with  the  calamities  that  come  rushing  in  the 
train  of  disruption,  supposing  it  should  become  not  merely  a  de¬ 
clared,  but  an  accomplished  fact.  Some,  indeed,  say,  “  Let  us 
hay e  peaceable  secession.”  But  who  does  not  see  that  this  is  ut- 


602 


Editorial  and  Critical . 


[Feb., 


terly  out  of  the  question  ]  Such  a  Government  as  this  cannot  die 
without  a  tremendous  struggle  for  life.  Its  life  is  too  mighty,  too 
all-pervasive  of  the  land.  It  is  not  the  inert  thing  to  crumble 
apart  like  grains  of  sand  from  the  clod.  No  one  who  has  not 
closely  studied  this  Government  in  its  nature  and  history,  has  any 
idea  of  its. organic  strength.  Its  very  complexity  and  wonder¬ 
fully  adjusted  balances  of  powers  and  offices  make  it  strong  and 
tenacious  of  existence.  If  it  dies,  its  death-struggles  will  be  ap¬ 
palling.  Of  this  all  may  be  assured.” 

This  sounds  a  little  more  peaceable  and  a  little  more  Chris¬ 
tian,  but  still  it  is  subject  to  very  serious  drawbacks.  The 
Northern  people  “are  ready  to  make  any  reasonable  accommo¬ 
dation”  But  who  is  to  judge  of  its  reasonableness?  and  what 
ensues  if  the  South  refuses  to  accede  to  it  ?  Why  then  comes 
in  the  threat  again.  “Such  a  Government  cannot  die  without 
a  tremendous  struggle/  4  If  it  dies,  its  deat^-struggles  will 
be  appalling.”  “  Some,  indeed,  say,  ‘  Let  us  have  peaceable 
secession.’  But  who  does  not  see  that  this  is  utterly  out  of 
the  question?”  “Why,  so?”  we  may  ask.  The  answer  is, 
“Its  life  is  too  mighty,  too  all-pervasive  of  the  land.”  If  we 
examine  these  high  sounding  phrases,  we  shall  find  them  all 
pregnant  with  the  same  spirit  of  coercion,  war  and  conquest. 
For  what  is  to  cause  the  struggle?  Nothin  £  but  the  deter- 

o  o  o 

ruination  of  the  Northern  States  to  prevent  peaceable  seces¬ 
sion.  There  is  no  reason  to  apprehend  civil  strife  between 
Unionists  and  Disunionists  in  any  Southern  State  that  may 
secede.  The  unanimity  with  which  men  of  all  parties  and 
views  go  in  for  supporting  their  respective  States  against  any 
coercion  by  the  Federal  authorities  has  in  it  something  won¬ 
derful.  Take  for  instance  Georgia,  the  latest  on  the  list. 
Her  Convention  declared  for  secession  by  a  majority  of  one 
hundred  and  nineteen.  Still  there  were  eighty-nine  opposed 
to  it,  a  very  respectable  minority.  Here  there  was  room  for 
some  struggle,  if  not  a  “  tremendous  one.”  But  what  fol¬ 
lowed?  Two  of  the  leading  Unionists  of  the  Convention,  the 
Hon.  Alexander  Stephens  and  Judge  Linton  Stephens,  drew 
up  a  Preamble  and  Besolution  which  were  presented  by  Judge 
Nesbitt,  and  which  proposed  that  as  there  was  no  difference  of 
opinion  among  the  members,  respecting  the  rights  or  wrongs 
of  Georgia,  but  only  as  to  the  remedy  and  its  present  applica¬ 
tion,  all  should  sign  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  “as  a  pledge 
of  the  unanimous  determination  of  this  Convention  to  sustain 
and  defend  the  State  in  this  her  course  and  remedy,  with  all 
its  responsibilities  and  consequences,  and  without  regard  to 
individual  approval  or  disapproval  of  its  adoption.”  It  seems 


1861.] 


Editorial  and  Critical . 


603 


then  that  the  “tremendous  struggle”  of  which  the  Protestant 
Churchman  speaks,  must  be  somewhere  else  than  within  the 
seceding  States  themselves.  In  these  States  “the  mighty  all- 
pervasive  life”  of  the  General  Government  has  drooped  and 
died  with  the  first  breath  of  the  popular  will,  and  now  lingers 
only  at  such  points,  as  Fort  Sumter  and  Fort  Pickens,  where 
sheltered  behind  brick  walls,  and  hiding  under  bomb-proof 
casemates,  its  representatives  are  found  in  the  persons  of  two 
or  three  hundred  United  States  soldiers,  kept  there  by  the 
pressure  of  Northern  opinion  upon  a  weak  and  vacillating  ad¬ 
ministration. 

With  these  remarks  we  dismiss  the  subject.  We  should  not 
have  dwelt  upon  it  at  such  length,  or  entered  so  much  into  the 
political  points  in  dispute,  but  that  the  editorial  of  the  Trot * 
estant  Churchman  embodies  most  of  those  fallacies  which  are 
impelling  the  Northern  people  towards  a  war  of  coercion,  and 
blinding  them  to  the  true  nature  of  their  present  position. 
We  trust  that  their  eyes  will  be  opened  ere  they  proceed  to 
Use  the  last  argument  in  favour  of  Union  which  a  Christian 
people  should  appeal  to— the  argument  of  the  sword.  What 
possible  end  they  can  hope  to  gain  by  it,  but  the  gratification 
of  revenge  we  at  least  are  utterly  unable  to  divine. 


We  publish  the  following  as  a  suitable  appendage  to  our 
strictures  upon  the  Protestant  Churchman .  It  is  one  of  the 
letters  alluded  to,  rejected  upon  the  ground  of  its  monstrous 
'principles .  The  writer  does  not  vouch  for  its  correspondence 
in  every  word  and  phrase  with  that  sent,  as  it  was  prepared 
from  a  rough  draft,  but  it  is  in  substance  the  same.  Is  it 
wonderful  that  the  people  remain  in  darkness  wh§n  their 
leaders  so  carefully  close  the  shutters  against  the  entrance  of 
every  painful  ray  of  light : — 

FOE  THE  PBOTESTANT  CHUECHMAN. 

Messrs.  Editors , — In  several  late  numbers  of  your  paper, 
you  refer  to  the  political  state  of  the  South,  and  especially  of 
South  Carolina.  As  none  of  our  religious  journals  (so  far  as 
I  have  seen,)  understand  our  true  condition,  or  do  justice  to 
their  Southern  brethren,  I  ask  permission  to  speak  a  word  in 
their  behalf.  A  right  understanding  of  each  other’s  views 
will  do  much  to  moderate  political  antipathy,  and  help  Chris¬ 
tians  to  pray  for  each  other,  and  for  their  country’s  good, 
With  many  of  your  readers  “we  have  taken  counsel  together. 
76 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


[Feb., 


and  gone  to  the  House  of  Gocl  in  company,”  and  as  Christian 
men,  we  desire  to  be  judged  aright41  by  our  Christian  brethren. 

You  speak  of  the  political  movement  in  this  State  as  the 
result  of  “passion ,”  and  the  work  of  artful  “ demagogues .” 

You  are  mistaken  in  both  points.  It  is  not  the  work  oj' 
politicians .  It  is  a  spontaneous  movement  of  the  public  mind, 
above  and  beyond  their  reach.  They  are  carried  along  by  the 
current.  They  are  in  the  rear,  not  in  the  van.  We  have  no 
leader  ;  we  can  find  none.  In  the  late  election  of  delegates 
to  the  State  Convention,  the  question  with  the  electors  was, 
which  of  our  public  men  were  resolute  enough  to  carry  out 
the  will  of  the  people. 

Nor  is  the  secession  of  this  State,  a  'passionate  act.  It  is 
the  result  of  twenty  years  painful  reflection.  It  has  been  done 
‘‘advisedly,  soberly,”’  and  I  believe,  “in  the  fear  of  God.”  A 
spirit  of  prayer  has  attended  the  whole  proceeding.  Every 
clergyman  that  I  know,  sympathizes  with  the  movement.  Our 
Convention  embraced  many  hoary  heads,  very  many  praying 
men,  and  eight  or  nine  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  They  voted 
unanimously  for  secession.  Old  men,  temperate  men,  our  most 
zealous  Christian  laymen,  men  of  charity  and  men  of  prayer, 
unite  with  the  young  and  ardent  in  cutting  the  cords  which 
bound  us  in  the  Confederacy.  Neither  politicians,  nor  passion 
can  eradicate  the  feelings  of  years,  nor  make  a  whole  people 
rise  up  as  one  man,  to  cast  away  a  long  cherished  Union. 

What  has  wrought  this  change  throughout  the  South,  and 
converted  so  large  a  part  of  the  nation  perforce  into  positive 
disunionists  ? 

I  reply,  a  conviction  that  we  can  no  longer  live  together  in 
peace.  The  aggressive  character  of  the  anti-slavery  agitation 
in  the  Northern  States  leaves  us  no  other  alternative.  The 
unceasing  warfare  upon  domestic  slavery  from  the  press,  the 
pulpit,  and  your  legislative  halls  ;  the  open  violation  or  evasion 
of  the  Constitution  by  fourteen  States  of  the  Union,  the  Su¬ 
preme  Court  being  judge  }  the  civil  war  in  Kansas  ;  the  dia¬ 
bolical  plot  of  John  Brown;  the  poisoning  of  the  wells  in 
Texas  ;  the  organized  efforts  of  abolitionists  to  excite  our 
slaves  to  insurrection  in  so  many  Southern  States,  warn  us  of 
our  fate,  if  abolition  had  power  to  work  its  will. 

The  late  Presidential  election  confers  that  power.  It  is 
the  verdict  of  the  Northern  majority  against  toleration  of  sla¬ 
very.  The  elevation  of  a  man,  whose  only  claim  to  that  high 
office,  is  his  implied  pledge  to  carry  out  the  fanatical  spirit  of 
his  party  in  the  administration  of  the  government,  we  regard 
as  an  overt  act  of  hostility.  It  proves  that  the  abolition  ele- 


1861.] 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


605 


ment  has  overpowered  the  conservative.  As  long  as  the  former 
was  in  a  minority,  we  trusted  to  our  Northern  allies  to  do  us 
justice.  But  with  its  domination,  the  hope  of  peace  in  the 
Union  has  passed  away.  We  apprehend  more  evil  from  our 
own  countrymen,  than  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  believe 
that  our  future  government  will  be  more  inimical  than  any 
foreign  power.  We  feel  that  our  “worst  foes”  are  those  of  our 
own  political  household.  Our  Federal  Congress  has  become 
an  engine  of  perpetual  irritation.  Anti-slavery  rules  in  every 
vote,  and  controls  all  legislation.  We  feel  that  one  such 
speech  as  Mr.  Sumner’s  in  the  Senate,  or  Mr.  Lovejoy’s  in  the 
House,  stirs  up  more  hostility  in  our  hearts,  than  a  well  fought 
battle  field.  One  such  raid  as  Brown’s,  is  more  hateful  than 
a  manly  attack  upon  our  coasts,  with  all  your  fleets  and  armies. 

It  is  the  hope  of  getting  rid  of  this  meddling  spirit,  at  least, 
as  far  as  governmental  contact  goes,  which  impels  the  South¬ 
ern  people  to  separate  from  the  Northern.  We  only  desire  to 
live  in  peace.  This  we  can  not  find  in  the  Union.  Therefore, 
for  peace  sake,  we  withdraw. 

You  tell  us  that  we  misjudge  the  feeling  of  the  Northern 
people ;  that  Brown  was  a  fanatic,  whom  you  pity  or  abhor. 
But  what  shall  we  say  of  those  who  manufactured  arms  for 
Southern  slaves  ?  or  of  those  who  paid  the  drafts  for  those 
weapons  five  months  before  they  were  used  ?  Were  they  mad 
also?  Do  the  ovations  at  Brown’s  shrine  furnish  no  indica¬ 
tions  of  the  popular  current  ? 

We  would  not  do  injustice  to  the  conservative  men  among 
you.  We  honor  their  fidelity  to  the  Constitution.  But,  we 
believe,  that  they  are  in  a  minority,  that  they  are  powerless 
for  good,  while  the  active  abolition  element  is  potent  for  evil. 

The  point  at  issue  seems  irreconcilable  in  the  present  temper 
of  the  public  mind.  You  think  slavery  sinful ;  we  think  it  an 
institution  sanctioned  by  God,  and  beneficial  to  the  African 
race.  We  are  willing  to  bear  all  the  responsibility  attaching 
to  it,  before  God  and  the  world.  We  know  that  we  are  the 
best  friends  of  this  dependent  race.  Leave  them  to  us,  their 
natural  and  providential  protectors.  We  try  to  do  as  much 
for  their  souls,  as  any  Christian  people  do  for  the  benefit  of 
their  operatives.  We  preach  more  to  them  than  our  clergy  do 
to  the  poor  in  any  Northern  city,  if  statistics  can  be  trusted. 
We  show  a  patience  and  forbearance  towards  them,  which 
astonishes  strangers.  Yet  many  count  us  as  unchristian  and 
unkind,  and  in  their  quixotic  zeal  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the 
oppressed,  they  put  the  black  man  before  the  white,  and  dis- 


606 


Editorial  and  Critical . 


[Feb., 


regard  our  rights  and  our  feelings.  To  our  own  Master  we 
stand  or  fall. 

I  feel  sad  at  the  disruption  of  our  country,  and  the  division 
of  our  Church  in  the  midst  of  so  much  harmony  as  God  has 
lately  given  us.  I  feel  mortified  that  an  insane  fanaticism, 
warring  against  a  recognized  Scriptural  institution,  should  rend 
our  civil  and  ecclesiastical  bonds. 

But  God  hates  boasting,  and  we  have  grown  so  proud  of  our 
great  Babylon,  that  He  designs  to  bring  our  idol  to  the  dust. 
May  we  learn  the  lesson  which  his  Providence  teaches,  and 
apply  it  to  our  future  use. 

Though  no  longer  meeting  in  the  same  General  Convention, 
we  may  still  co-operate  in  the  glorious  Gospel  of  our  Lord. 
And  may  we  each  strive  to  promote  truth,  peace,  and  love  at 
home  and  abroad,  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  salvation  of 
men,  Very  respectfully, 

Yours,  in  Christian  regard, 

C.  C.  Pinckney,  Jr. 

Charleston ,  Dec.  29,  1860. 


“THE  SWORD  AND  THE  BIBLE.” 

Under  this  head  we  find  in  the  ably  edited  Methodist  paper 
of  this  city,  the  following  interesting  letter,  which  we  publish 
along  with  the  Editor’s  comments  : 

“  Among  the  military  companies  now  stationed  at  Sullivan’s 
Island,  is  one  from  upper  Carolina,  in  which  over  twenty  are 
graduates  of  the  South  Carolina  College — two  or  three  having 
taken  the  first  honor  at  that  or  other  Colleges.  They  are  a  noble 
band  of  men,  and  their  captain  served  valiantly  in  the  Mexican 
war.  He  is  President  also,  we  believe,  of  the  Bible  Society  of 
his  District.  In  Charleston  he  met  with  Rev.  Mr.  Bolles,  Agent 
of  the  Bible  Society  of  Charleston,  who  being  now  actively  en¬ 
gaged  here  in  his  work,  placed  two  hundred  and  fifty  Testaments 

in  the  hands  of  Captain - ,  for  distribution  among  his  soldiers. 

We  may  say  in  passing,  that  several  hundred  Testaments  have 
been  distributed  in  other  companies — and  in  some  of  the  compa¬ 
nies  at  least,  vve  hear  that  daily  religious  service  has  been  held, 
by  the  members  themselves,  when  not  on  duty. 

“  But  to  our  story.  Capt.  — —  has  written  to  Mr.  Bolles  a  let¬ 
ter,  which  we  are  permitted  to  publish,  though  we  do  it  without 
the  name  of  the  writer,  because  it  has  not  been  convenient  to  see 
him  and  ask  his  consent.  He  says  : 

Rev.  E.  Bolles,  Charleston,  S.  C. 

“  Dear  Sir, — Iu  the  hurry  of  my  departure  yesterday,  I  failed 
to  thank  you  as  I  should  have  done,  for  your  kindness  in  furnish* 


1861.] 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


607 


ing  me  with  Testaments  for  my  command  and  for  general  distri¬ 
bution. 

“  To-day  I  announced  to  my  company  that  they  could  be  sup¬ 
plied,  and  in  a  very  short  time  every  man  had  “the  book.”  I  had 
about  one  hundred  copies  left.  They  were  all  distributed  to 
other  companies  long  before  night.  When  it  became  known  that 
I  had  them,  many  youthful — tine  looking — brave  men  came  to  my 
quarters  and  supplied  themselves.  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  no 
one  has  gone  away  without  being  supplied.  I  had,  however,  to 
take  the  three  volumes  which  I  had  reserved  for  myself  and  offi¬ 
cers.  This,  however,  is  immaterial  as  we  all  have  our  Bible.  I 
hope  we  may  have  no  use  for  our  swords,  and  that  the  books  dis¬ 
tributed  to-day  may  bring  forth  an  abundant  harvest  of  good. 

Yours,  very  respectfully.  . 

“  Such  are  they  against  whom  Republican  Christian  editors  are 
‘breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter.’  ” — Southern  Christian 
Advocate . 


APPEAL  IN  BEHALF  OF  OUR  FOREIGN  MISSIONS. 

The  following  earnest  appeal  from  the  Foreign  Committee 
of  the  Church  deserves  the  promptest  attention.  We  trust 
that  all  our  Churches  will  endeavor  to  do  something,  at  least 
towards  the  relief  of  the  Committee  : 

“  The  Foreign  Committee  send  forth  their  present  appeal  under 
circumstances  involving  the  deepest  anxiety.  To  their  hands 
have  been  intrusted  the  guidance  and  management  of  the  Foreign 
Missionary  work  of  the  Church.  That  work  after  many  years  of 
patience  on  the  part  of  the  Missionaries,  has  reached  its  present 
proportions  of  extent  and  efficiency.  It  has  been  rich  in  bless¬ 
ings  to  those  in  whose  behalf  it  was  undertaken,  and  rich  in  its 
returns  to  the  Church  at  home. 

“  The  Committee,  having  the  interests  of  this  work  constantly 
before  them,  have  observed,  with  much  satisfaction,  its  growth  in 
the  affections  of  our  communion  as  evinced  by  the  steady  increase 
of  its  contributions.  That  growth,  it  is  true,  has  been  by  slow 
degrees — and  in  the  carrying  out  of  those  measnres  which  the 
Committee  have  deemed  important  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
work,  there  has  always  been  a  pressure  upon  them  in  pecuniary 
matters,  amounting  not  unfrequently  to  serious  perplexity  and 
embarrassment.  Still  they  have  been  cheered  by  the  hope  that 
the  Church  was  realizing  more  and  more  the  importance  of  this 
blessed  work,  and  would  not  fail  to  sustain  it. 

“  In  this  confidence  the  Committee  made  their  appropriations 
for  the  year  1861 — in  no  case  diminishing  the  amount  of  appro¬ 
priation,  and  in  one  case,  that  of  Africa,  increasing  it. 

'‘Now,  however,  they  are  forced  by  circumstances  to  ask  will 
these  obligations  be  met  ?  Evils  unlooked  for  and  most  appalling 
have  fallen  upon  our  nation,  threatening  the  direst  consequences. 


608 


Editorial  and  Critical. 


[Feb., 


Of  the  causes  which  have  produced  these  results,  the  Committee 
find  no  occasion  to  speak.  The  object  of  their  concern  is,  the 
effects  which  present  calamities  may  have  upon  the  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sionary  work  of  the  Church. 

“  The  Missionaries  abroad  are  entirely  dependentfor  their  daily 
subsistence  and  for  the  means  to  carry  on  the  work,  upon  funds 
paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  Foreign  Committee.  Five  Thou¬ 
sand 'Dollars  each  Month  are  required  to  sustain  the  Missions  in 
Africa  and  China  alone,  while  in  addition  to  these,  we  have  to 
provide  for  the  support  of  the  Mission  in  Greece — the  Mission  in 
Japan,  and  the  Mission  in  Brazil. 

“  The  Treasury  is  at  this  moment  overdrawn  $8,000.  It  will, 
therefore,  be  seen  at  a  glance,  how  rapidly  difficulties  must  mul¬ 
tiply  upon  a  failure  of  ordinary  receipts.  The  burden  attendant 
upon  such  failure  the  Committee  cannot  possibly  sustain,  and  in 
such  result,  speedy  distress  must  fall  upon  the  Missionaries,  and 
to  all  our  other  disasters  will  be  added  the  grievous  one  of  the 
breaking  up  of  our  Missionary  establishment. 

“  Will  the  Church  allow  this  ? 

“  Shall  not  the  heart  of  God’s  people,  in  its  holy  resolves,  rise 
above  present  distress,  and  determine,  that,  let  what  will  come, 
the  Missions  of  the  Church  shall  be  sustained  ? 

“  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  prayers  now  daily  come  up 
before  God,  through  the  mediation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that 
He  will  turn  away  these  evils  from  us  ;  and  that,  in  whatever 
measure  these  shall,  in  His  wisdom  and  love,  be  permitted  to  fall 
upon  our  country,  they  may  be  overruled  to  the  advancement  of 
His  Kingdom  upon  Earth. 

“Let  us  labor  with  our  might,  that- this  may  be  accomplished, 
and,  in  these  dark  hours  of  adversity,  give  proof  of  our  faith  in 
God — of  our  love  to  Christ,  and  our  devotion  to  that  cause  for 
which  he  suffered  and  died. 

“  Your  instant  attention  to  this  Appeal,  is  earnestly  requested. 

“Remittances  to  be  made  to  James  S.  Aspinwall,  Esq,  86 
William-street,  New  York.  By  order  and  in  behalf  of  the  Foreign 
Committee, 

S.  D.  Denison,  Secretary  and  General  Agent. 

Missionary  Rooms,  New  York,  January  1st,  1S61. 


BISHOP  COBBS  OF  ALABAMA. 

The  subjoined  circular  will  explain  itself,  and  will  be  read 
with  melancholy  interest  by  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion. 
The  clear  and  unfaltering  trust  expressed  by  the  lamented 
speaker,  and  the  singleness  of  his  dependence  upon  Christ  are 
matters  of  deep  and  heartfelt  joy  : 

Montgomery,  Ala.,  Jan.  12th,  1S61. 

**  To  the  Clergy  of  the  Protestant  Episcojml  Church  in  the  Diocese 
of  Alabama  : 

,lDcnr  Brethren , — Some  days  before  our  revered  and  beloved 


1861.] 


Editorial  and.  Critical. 


609 


Bishop  “fell  asleep,”  lest  he  might  die  and  leave  them  unspoken, 
he  requested  me  to  keep  in  mind,  and  in  the  event  of  his  death,  to 
communicate  to  you  the  following  words  : 

“First  of  all,  give  to  each  and  every  one  of  them,  individually, 
my  love  and  my  blessing  ;  and  tell  them,  that  as  during  my  whole 
episcopate  it  has  been  my  earnest  purpose  and  constant  endeavor 
to  be,  the  personal  friend  and  helper  of  every  Clergyman  in  my 
Diocese,  so  now  I  have  them  still  in  my  heart. 

As  to  my  Religious  belief ;  tell  them,  that  by  God’s  grace,  I 
shall  die  in  the  Faith,  in  which  I  have  lived,  and  which  I  have 
endeavored  to  preach.  I  have  been  called  “a  Puseyite,”  a  “High 
Churchman,”  and  the  like.  Tell  them  I  dislike  party  names, 
and  loathe  party  lines  in  the  Church  of  Christ  ;  but  next  to  Christ, 
who  is  the  Head,  I  love  the  Church,  which  is  His  Body,  with  my 
whole  heart.  I  have  attached,  and  do  still  attach,  great  impor¬ 
tance  to  Her  offices  and  sacraments;  and  I  believe  in  “Baptismal 
Regeneration,”  and  “Apostolic  Succession,”  as  firmly  as  I  do  any 
of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Gospel ;  but  I  am  not  “con¬ 
scious,  that  I  have  ever  preached  any  thing  but  “Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  Crucified;”  and  now,  in  this  solemn  hour,  reviewing 
my  ministry,  I  cannot  recall  a  single  sentiment,  either  in  my  ser¬ 
mons  or  my  pastoral  addresses,  which  I  desire  erased  or  changed.* 

As  to  my  hope  of  justification  with  God ;  tell  them,  that  “This 
is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners .”  I  have  been  called  “a 
good  man,”  “a  kind  man,”  from  my  youth  up.  I  do  not  say 
whether  justly  or  otherwise.  I  have  tried  to  show  kindness  and 
sympathy  to  all,  especially  to  the  poor,  to  the  afflicted,  and  to 
the  bereaved ;  and  I  am  certain,  that  I  do  not  now  bear  malice, 
or  cherish  unkind  feelings,  towards  anybody  on  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth.  But  if  I  have  done  any  kind  deeds,  or  any  good 
works,  I  am  sure  I  make  no  merit  of  them,  but  cast  them  all  be¬ 
hind  my  back,  and  nauseate  them,  and  spit  upon  them  “as  filthy 
rags,”  and  counting  myself  “an  unprofitable  servant,”  I  look  only 
“unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,”  and  say, 

“  In  my  hand  no  price  I  bring,” 

Simply  to  Thy  cross  I  cling.” 

As  to  my  present  state  of  mind  ;  tell  them,  I  heartily  thank 
God  for  this  sickness.  I  know  not  yet  what  is  to  be  the  issue* 
I  have  no  will  nor  wish  in  the  matter. 

“  Nor  life  nor  death  I  crave,” 

but  simply  to  do,  to  bear,  to  suffer,  and  to  glorify  the  will  of  God* 
This  is  my  sentiment  now,  and  it  is  the  sentiment  with  which  I 
hope  to  die. 

And  with  my  farewell  blessing  upon  them,  upon  their  families, 
upon  their  Parishes,  and  upon  my  whole  Diocese,  tell  them,  that 
their  dying  Bishop  exhorts  them  to  strive  to  be  men  of  God  : — 
men  of  peace,  men  of  brotherly-kindness,  men  of  charity  ;  self- 


610 


Religious  Intelligence.  [Feb., 


denying  men,  men  of  purity,  men  of  prayer  ;  men  striving  to 
“perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God,”  and  laboring  and  preaching 
with  an  eye  single  to  His  glory  and  the  salvation  of  souls.” 

“These,  dear  brethren,  are  the  sentiments,  and,  as  nearly  as  I 
can  remember,  the  very  words,  which  our  lamented  Father  in  God 
affectionately  and  solemnly  charged  me  to  communicate  to  you. 
I  am  sure  we  shall  all  treasure  them  up  as  a  most  precious  legacy. 

Your  Brother  in  Christ, 

John  M.  Mitchell. 


nEXiiaiOUS  ISXTT'EIjIjI&ESNCEi 

,  DIOCESAN. 

Charleston,  S.  C.  January  3d,  1861 

To  the  Clergy  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  Diocese  of  South- Carolina  : 

Beloved  Brethren  : — Will  you  permit  me  once  more  to  ad* 
dress  you  in  these  trying  times  ?  The  changes  of  Providence 
are  requiring  of  us  corresponding  adaptations  in  our  public 
worship.  I  request  therefore  that  for  the  future  in  the  prayer 
for  “  all  in  Civil  Authority ,”  you  substitute  for  the  words 
hi President  of  the  United  States ”  the  words  “  Governor  of  South - 
Carolina ,”  and  omit  altogether  the  prayer  set  forth  by  me  to 
be  used  during  the  session  of  the  Legislature,  and  use  in  its 
place  the  occasional  prayer  in  the  Prayer  Book,  substituting 
for  the  words  “  these  United  States  f  the  words  “  this  Com¬ 
monwealth and  for  the  word  “  Congress ,”  the  word  “Legisla¬ 
ture  f  and  to  continue  to  use  during  the  session  of  the  Conven¬ 
tion  of  the  State,  the  prayer  set  forth  by  me  for  that  purpose. 
With  the  expression  of  my  most  cordial  Christian  sympathy 
and  earnest  prayers  to  God  for  His  help  and  blessing, 

I  remain  very  truly,  your  Brother  in  Christ, 

THOS.  P.  DAVIS, 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  South  Carolina. 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Quinby  having  removed  from  Texas  to  South 
Carolina,  requests  that  his  letters  and  papers  be  directed  to 
Charleston. 


1861.] 


611 


Religious  Intelligence. 

ft  ft 


[Correspondence  of  the  Ch.  Intelligencer.] 

THE  FUNERAL  OF  BISHOP  COBBS. 

Our  revered  Bishop  sleeps  in  the  silence  of  the  grave.  He  was 
buried  from  St.  John’s  Church,  Montgomery,  on  Sunday,  13th 
ult.  There  were  present  upon  the  occasion,  of  the  clergy,  Rt. 
Rev.  Bishop  Elliott,  and  Rev.  W.  N.  Hawks,  of  the  Diocese  of 
Georgia,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Hanson,  Lee,  Ticknor,  Cushman,  D. 
D  ,  Shepherd,  Denniston,  Jarratt,  Derby,  Bartley,  and  Gholson, 
of  Alabama,  besides,  Rev.  Messrs.  R.  A.  Cobbs,  Mitchell,  and  R. 
H.  Cobbs,  members  of  the  Bishop’s  family,  a  large  attendance 
when  we  remember  the  protracted  rains  and  overflowing  waters 
which  interrupt  communication,  the  shortness  of  the  notice,  and 
in  some  cases  sickness,  which  presented  obstacles  that  could  not 
be  overcome. 

Long  before  the  appointed  hour,  2^,  P.  ]\|.,  the  large  church 
was  densely  crowded  by  the  multitudes  who  wished  to  pay  the 
last  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  great  and  a  good  man. 
Pews,  aisles,  and  galleries  were  thronged,  and  hundreds  turned 
away  who  could  not  find  standing  room.  Even  ’mid  the  falling 
rain  the  churchyard  was  filled,  and  there  they  stood,  through  the 
protracted  services,  so  anxious  were  they  to  discharge  their  pious 
but  mournful  dirty. 

The  corpse  arrayed  in  the  Episcopal  robes  which  he  had  worn 
in  life  was  contained  in  a  Burial  Casket,  and  was  borne  by  the 
vestry  of  St.  John’s  Church,  acting  as  pall-bearers.  There  was 
no  inscription  Upon  the  coffin  but  the  words, 

RIGHT  REY.  NICHOLAS  HAMNER  COBBS,  D.  D., 

Born  Feb.  5th,  1795, 

Aged  65  Years,  11  Months,  6  Days. 

The  Casket  was  covered  with  a  purple  pall,  adorned  with  a 
plain  white  cross,  and  with  wreaths  of  white  hyacinths  and  ever¬ 
greens.  The  church  and  chancel,  the  pulpit  desk  and  altar  were 
draped  in  appropriate  mourning. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  church  the  corpse  Was  received  by  Bishop 
Elliott  in  his  robes,  and  by  the  attending  clergy  in  surplice  and 
stole ;  the  deacons  wearing  their  stoles  upon  the  left  shoulder 
only.  With  slow  and  measured  tread  they  proceeded  up  the 
aisle,  the  Bishop  repeating  with  great  solemnity  the  appointed 
*  sentences,  the  congregation  rising  spontaneously  to  their  feet  at 
the  utterance  of  the  first  words.  Arrived  at  the  chancel  the  cler¬ 
gy  parted  right  and  left,  and  took  their  respective  places,  while 
the  body  ivas  placed  upon  a  catafalque  in  the  midst  of  that  chan¬ 
cel  where  so  often,  when  living,  he  had  broken  the  bread  of  life. 
For  a  moment  a  solemn  stillness  pervaded  the  great  multitude* 
interrupted  only  by  tears  and  sobs,  and  then  a  wailing  sound  of 
music  broke  upon  the  ear.  It  was  the  chant  of  the  anthem  in  the 
burial  service,  and  reverently  did  the  congregation  stand,  save 
here  and  there  those  whom  grief  and  sorrow  fiad  entirely  over- 
77 


612 


Religious  Intelligence. 

O 


powered,  and  the  touching-  eloquence  of  that  music  sank  deep  into 
many  hearts.  The  lesson  was  read  by  the  Rev.  F.  R.  Hanson, 
and  the  2nd  part  of  the  70th  Psalm  was  announced  by  Rev.  F. 
13.  Lee?  the  two  senior  presbyters,  and  the  only  two  members  of 
the  present  clergy  of  the  Diocese  who  acted  in  the  election  of 
Bishop  Cobbs. 

The  Bishop  of  Georgia  then  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  during 
the  delivery  of  that  able,  eloquent,  and  touching  address,  the 
silence  of  the  vast  audience  that  bung  upon  his  words  was  so  still 
that  it  could  be  felt.  The  streaming  tears  of  women  and  of  men 
— the  occasional  burst  of  grief  which  could  not  be  suppressed,  and 
the  rapt  attention  spoke  eloquently  of  the  power  alike  of  the  liv¬ 
ing  Bishop  and  of  the  dead.  Most  feelingly,  most  truthfully  did 
he  delineate,  and  describe  the  character  and  life  of  his  departed 
brother.  In  his  breathing  words,  the  man  of  God,  the  humble, 
the  self-denying,  the  holy  Bishop  stood  before  us  as  when  in  life. 
And  when  he  touched  upon  the  dying  Bishop’s  last  message  to  his 
clergy  and  diocese,  those  words,  those  kind  and  loving  words, 
worthy  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold,  and  which  when  published 
will  make  an  abiding  impression  upon  the  hearts  of  the  church  at 
large,  it  was  a  scene  of  such  sorrow  as  well  might  break  our  hearts. 
Not  the  long  and  protracted  sickness,  not  the  untimely  death,  not 
the  desolate  Aveeping  family,  not  the  funeral  array,  the  draped 
church,  or  wailing  music,  none,  nor  all  of  these  so  opened  the 
sluices  of  sorrow  as  did  the  dead  Bishop’s  last  most  solemn  charge. 
We  can  not  say  more  of  the  Bishop  of  Georgia’s  address  than  that 
it  Avas  Avorthy  of  the  subject  of  the  occasion,  and  of  himself,  and 
he  has  Avon  a  lasting  place  in  the  hearts  of  Alabama  churchmen. 
We  need  not  say  more,  for  av©  trust  be  will  yield  to  the  unani¬ 
mous  request  of  the  attending  clergy,  and  give  it  to  the  Avorldand 
the  Church,  that  they  may  learn  Iioav  a  Christian  Bishop  lived 
and  died. 

At  the  close  of  the  address  the  hymn 

Rock  of  ages,  cleft  for  me, 

Let  me  bide  myself  in  thee, 

Avas  sung  by  the  choir — a  hymn  most  fitting  and  appropriate,  for 
it  contained  two  lines  which  were  often  upon  the  lips  of  Bishop 
Cobbs,  and  which  during  his  sickness  be  had  often  said  contained 
the  sum  and  substance  of  liis  religion — lines  which  but  shortly 
before  be  breathed  his  last  he  was  heard  to  murmur, 

“In  my  band  no  price  I  bring,  .  , 

Simply  to  tby  cross  I  cling,” 

The  singing  ended,  the  Bishop  and  clergy  preceding  the  corpse 
went  down  the  aisle.  Upon  reaching  the  door  the  clergy  opened 
right  and  left,  and  the  body  followed  by  the  family  and  friends 
passed  through  the  double  line.  A  procession  Avas  then  formed 
and  the  long  train — the  Bishop,  the  clergy,  the  plumed  liearse, 
the  carriages  and  those  avIio  walked,  took  up  its  melancholy  way 
to  the  grave — in  the  Avords  of  our  city  papers,  “an  immense  pro¬ 
cession” — especially  to  be  noticed,  for  the  rain  Avas-  iioav  falling 
fast.  At  the  grave,  the  clergy  again  formed,  the  Bishop  and  the 


1861.] 


Religious  Intelligence. 


613 


corpse  passing  through  it,  followed  by  the  mourners,  and  then’ 
when  all  was  hushed  and  still,  the  multitude  reverently  uncovered 
Bishop  Elliott  went  through,  in  his  impressive  manner,  the  con¬ 
cluding  services  and  consigned  to  the  tomb,  earth  to  earth,  dust 
to  dust,  the  remains  of  his  departed  brother — the  remains  of  the 
first  Bishop  of  Alabama,  so  honored,  so  loved,  so  revered. 

Thus  ended  in  our  Diocese  a  day  of  anguish  and  sorrow,  and 
yet  not  unmingled  with  joy.  We  weep  not  for  him,  but  for  our¬ 
selves.  He  has  entered  upon  that  rest  he  so  long  desired,  he  has 
joined  the  innumerable  company  of  angels,  the  spirits  of  the  just 
made  perfect,  the  noble  army  of  martyrs ;  his  life  of  prayer  and 
praise,  begun  on  earth,  is  perfected  in  heaven.  He  has  laid  down 
the  burden  of  care  and  responsibility,  of  labor  and  toil,  and  reposes 
in  the  bosom  of  God.  For  him  we  do  not  moan,  for  with  him  to 
be  absent  from  the  body  is  to  be  present  with  the  Lord.  But  for 
his  Diocese,  bereaved  and  orphaned  and  fallen  upon  evil  times, 
without  a  counsellor  or  guide — for  the  Church  at  large,  bereft  of 
his  wisdom  and  the  example  of  his  godly  and  Christian  life — for 
the  children  deprived  of  such  a  father  and  friend — for  the  deso¬ 
late  and  heart-broken  widow,  who  has  lost  the  desire  of  her  eyes 
and  the  pride  of  her  life — for  all  of  these  our  tears  fall — for  all  of 
these  we  pray,  for  the  influences  of  that  God,  the  Comforter,  who 
alone  can  sustain  and  console. 

BEY.  DR.  ANTHON. 

The  Church  Journnl  pays  a  handsome  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
Dr.  Anthon,  creditable  alike  to  the  writer  and  the  deceased  Rec¬ 
tor  of  St.  Mark’s : 

“Dr.  Anthon’s  death  removes  one  of  the  old  landmarks  on  the 
list  of  our  city  clergy.  And  he  was  of  those  who  make  their  mark 
on  the  story  of  the  Church.  His  ability  was  of  a  high  order, 
especially  as  a  writer,  and  as  a  leading  man  in  council  and  in  ac¬ 
tion.  His  chief  trait  of  character  was  one  in  which  the  clergy  as 
a  class  do  not  excel ;  and  that  was  nerve  ; — the  impetuous  will, 
and  the  prompt  fearless  decision,  to  carry  out  to  the  utmost,  re¬ 
gardless  of  persuasions,  or  merely  human  feelings,  or  public  opin¬ 
ion,  or  consequences  of  any  kind  whatever,  those  uncompromising 
decisions  to  which  his  own  conscientious  convictions  led  him. 
With  this  eager  fearlessness,  there  was  a  singular  tenacity,  which 
clung  to  its  purpose  only  the  more  unflinchingly  for  all  the  obsta¬ 
cles  that  rose  in  its  way,  and  a  firm  personal  resolution  growing 
only  stronger  and  tougher  with  advancing  years.  Besides  these 
qualities,  which  more  than  once  made  him  prominent  in  contro¬ 
versies  of  great  heat,  and  of  singular  importance  in  their  bearings 
upon  the  Church,  he  was  a  genial  and  faithful  friend,  with  a  racy 
and  strong  flavor  of  robust  intellect  in  all  his  conversation.  He 
was,  from  the  first,  an  attentive  and  indefatigable  parish  priest, 
and  was  one  of  the  very  earliest  of  the  city  clergy  to  establish 
that  most  useful  element  of  Church  growth, — a  Parish  School. 
Outside  his  parish,  he  held  a  prominent  place  in  a  circle,  both  of 
the  clergy  and  the  laity,  whose  convictions  and  feelings  were 


614 


Religious  Intelligence. 


[Feb. 


sucli  as  enabled  them  to  work  harmoniously  together;  and  their 
entire  confidence  he  retained  to  the  last, — being  himself  the  ruling 
spirit,  to  a  great  degree,  of  all  their  varied  activities.  He  was  in¬ 
deed  an  earnest  strenuous  soul,  who  did  with  his  might  all  that 
his  hand  found  to  do:  and  he  has  left  behind  him  few  who  would 
be  willing  to  do  and  dare  as  unshrinkingly  as  he  did,  for  that 

which  he  believed,  in  his  conscience,  to  he  right. 

% 

Dr.  Anthoris  Funeral. — The  funeral  sermon  in  memory  of  the 
late  Dr.  Anthon  was  preached  in  St.  Mark’s  Church,  last  Sunday 
morning,  before  an  immense  congregation,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng. 

The  Church  was  draped  in  mourning  and  contained  an  immense 
congregation.  The  services  were  marked  by  sadness  and  solemn¬ 
ity.  The  Rt  Rev.  Bishop  Potter,  Rev.  Mr.  Bolton,  Rev.  Mr. 
Dennison,  and  other  clergymen,  were  present.  The  family  of  the 
late  Rector  sat  near  the  pulpit,  and  were  attired  in  deep  mourn¬ 
ing.  At  the  close  of  Morning  Prayer,  the  Rev,  Dr.  Tyng  preached 
from  the  text :  “He  was  a  faithful  man  and  feared  God  above 
many” — Nehemiah  vii.,  2.  The  preacher  opened  by  stating  that 
his  text  was  a  precious  tribute  to  personal  character,  and  happy 
indeed  was  the  man  who  was  entitled  to  it.  Dr.  Anthon  was 
born  in  March,  1795,  one  month  before  the  foundation  of  their 
Church  was  laid  ;  and  in  November,  1816,  commenced  his  minis¬ 
try  at  Red  Hook,  Dutchess  county,  He  was  accepted  and  be¬ 
loved  by  his  people,  and  the  very  high  regard  entertained  for  him 
by  Bishop  Hobart,  who  commended  him  as  an  example  of  piety 
and  diligence  to  young  ministers,  earned  for  him  a  high  and  wide¬ 
spread  reputation  among  the  Churches.  In  1819,  he  was  called 
to  St.  Bartholomew’s  Church  in  South  Carolina,  but,  refusing  to 
settle  there,  departed  in  1821,  the  vestry  having  appreciated  and 
endorsed  his  ministerial  course.  In  that  year  he  officiated  as  min¬ 
ister  of  Trinity  Church,  Utica,  continuing  there  till,  in  1829,  he 
was  called  to  St.  Stephen’s  Church,  and  in  1831  to  Trinity  Church, 
New  York,  Five  years  afterwards  he  was  called  to  the  ministry 
of  their  (St.  Mark’s)  Church,  occupying,  as  a  servant  of  Christ,  his 
high  position  for  twenty  four  years,  He  had  no  doubt  his  religious 
character  was  constantly  enlarging.  As  a  minister  of  their 
Church,  and  as  an  editor  of  the  Frotestant  Churchman ,  he  endeav¬ 
ored  to  advance  the  truth  ;  cheerfulness,  contentment,  and  Chris¬ 
tian  love  were  visible  in  his  relations  to  all  who  had  known  him. 
He  had  never  met  with  a  more  upright  man,  or  one  with  a  kinder 
heart,  more  tender  conscience,  or  calmer  judgment.  Christmas 
Day  he  was  in  that  temple  among  them,  and  he  left  it  then  to  die. 
Suffering  for  several  days  with  an  acute  disease,  he  was  still  calm. 
For  three  days  he  had  administered  to  him,  and  when  he  was 
spoken  to  in  reference  to  his  clerical  course,  he  said,  “I  have  noth¬ 
ing  to  retract;  what  I  did  was  not  my  own  seeking,  but  duty  in 
the  Lord’s  direction.”  Fie  died  trusting  in  Jesus,  and  humbly 
asking  the  lowest  place  in  the  abode  of  his  Saviour.  To  his  family 
he  was  everything  that  the  sweetest  kindness  could  make  a  man 
be  to  others.  For  forty  years  he  had  been  their  earthly  protec- 


1861.] 


Religions  Intelligence. 


615 


tion  and  guide,  departing  daily  and  returning  in  the  evening  to 
bl  ess  bis  household.  0,  might  Jesus  bless  those  afflicted  ones 
wherever  their  habitation  might  be  !  To  those  to  whom  he  min¬ 
istered  so  long,  he  would  say — mark  his  conduct  and  conversation, 
and  give  his  standard  to  no  one  but  a  bearer  of  a  kindred  spirit 
like  his  own.  The  preacher,  after  attributing  the  success  of  Dr. 
Anthon  as  a  pastor  to  his  faith  in  God,  and  the  grace  which  was 
given  him,  closed  with  the  elegiac  stanza, 

Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done; 

Ceased  from  thy  loved  employ ; 

The  battle’s  o’er,  the  victory  won, 

Rest  on  thy  Saviour’s  joy ! 

The  funeral  services  of  the  late  Rector  were  held  in  St.  Mark’s 
Church,  on  Tuesday  morning,  Jan.  8tli,  the  edifice  being  densely 
crowded.  The  officiating  clergy  present  were  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop 
Potter,  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng,  Rev.  Dr.  Cutler,  and  the  Rev.  H.  Mont¬ 
gomery,  The  following  gentlemen  were  the  pall-bearers  : — The 
Revs.  Dr.  Jones,  Dr.  Taylor,  Dr.  Chauncey,  Dr.  Cooke,  Dr. 
Turner,  Dr.  Harris,  Dr.  Canfield,  and  Dr.  Dyer.  M.  D.’s. — Drs. 
Ellis,  Joseph  M.  Smith,  Cheeseman,  Clark,  Paine,  M.  Ulshoeffer, 
L.  Bradish,  J.  B.  Herrick,  H.  B.  Ren  wick,  J.  Paris,  T.  Beare,  W. 
Remsen,T.  McMullen,  J.  Colles,  nnd  H.  E.  Davies,  Esqs.  At  the 
close  of  the  services,  the  body  was  deposited  in  the  family  vault 
attached  to  the  Church. — New  York  Express  (abridged). 

CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  THE  DOMESTIC  COM¬ 
MITTEE  AND  THE  CHUrCH  MISSION’Y  SOCIETY. 

We  deem  it  our  duty  to  lay  before  the  Church  the  following 
correspondence,  which  has  taken  place  in  consequence  of  the  ac¬ 
tion  of  the  Board  of  Missions  at  their  meeting  in  October  last : — 

New  York,  Oct.  30,  1860. 

To  the  American  Church  Missionary  Society  :  — 

Gentlemen  :  By  the  Board  of  Missions,  recently  convened  in 
Annual  Meeting  at  New  Haven,  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted  : — 

Resolved .  That  the  Board  recommend  to  the  Domestic  Com¬ 
mittee  to  encourage  the  formation  of  auxiliary  associations,  com¬ 
posed  of  one  or  more  congregations,  which  may  select  and  sustain 
special  portions  of  the  great  missionary  work,  committed  to  the 
Church.” 

“ Resolved ,  That  the  Domestic  Committee  be  distinctly  author¬ 
ized  and  instructed  to  assure  its  auxiliaries,  that  contributions 
specially  appropriated  by  them,  will  be  received  and  paid  in  ac¬ 
cordance  with  the  expressed  wish  of  the  donors.” 

“ Resolved ,  That  the  Domestic  Committee  be  instructed  to  con¬ 
fer  with  the  government  of  the  “  American  Church  Missionary 
Society,’  with  a  view  to  some  harmonious  adjustment  of  their 
various  relations.” 

In  obedience  to  the  instructions  of  the  Board  expressed  in  the 
last  resolution,  the  Domestic  Committee  now  addresses  you.  We 
arev  however,  unwilling  to  do  this  without  an  assurance  on  our 


[Feb., 


GIG  Religious  Intelligence. 


own  part  (ancl  we  believe  we  may  add,  on  the  part  of  the  Board 
also),  that  there  exists  the  most  honest  desire  to  do  all  we  can,  to 
further  your  efforts  for  spreading  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  With  the 
earnest  wish,  therefore,  .to  produce,  if  it  be  possible,  the  most  har¬ 
monious,  fraternal,  and  united  exertions  on  the  part  of  the  “Ameri¬ 
can  Church  Missionary  Society,”  and  the  existing  missionary 
organization  of  the  Church,  which  we  now  represent,  in  the  one 
great  work  which  we  alike  have  at  heart,  we  now  respectfully  ask, 
whether  the  “American  Church  Missionary  Society,”  is  disposed 
to  accede  to  the  proposition  we  now  make  for  such  a  conference 
as  is  indicated  in  the  third  resolution  quoted  above?  If  it  should 
be  your  pleasure  to  accede,  the  Domestic  Committee  will  be  most 
happy  to  meet  such  representatives  of  your  body,  as  you  may 
select,  at  such  time  and  place  as  may  be  most  convenient  to  them. 

May  we  further  respectfully  ask,  that  your  reply  be  directed  to 
the  “  Domestic  Committee,”  and  be  sent  to  the  Committee’s 
Rooms,  No.  17,  in  the  Bible  House  ? 

VVe  are,  gentlemen,  with  Christian  affection,  your  friends  and 
brethren, 

(Signed.]  Rt.  Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.D.,  L.L  D.,  Chairman; 
Rev.  F.  L.  Hawks,  D.D.,  L.L.D.;  Rev.  J.  H.  Hobart,  D.D.;  Rev. 
S.  Cooke,  D.D. ;  Rev.  P.  S.  Chauncey,  D.D. ;  Rev.  R.  B.  Van 
Kleeck,  D.D. ;  H  on.  Luther  Bradish  ;  Cyrus  Curtiss,  Esq. ;  G. 
N.  Titus,  Esq. ;  J.  D.  Wolfe,  Esq  ;  Isaac  Seymour,  Esq. 

New  York,  Nov.  20,  1860. 

To  the  Committee  for  Domestic  Missions  of  the  Board  of'  JMissions 

of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  :  — 

Gentlemen  :  We  have  received  with  much  pleasure,  and  con¬ 
sidered  with  much  respect  the  communication  you  did  us  the  honor 
to  address  us  on  the  30th  of  October. 

We  are  gratified  and  encouraged  by  the  liberal  and  friendly 
character  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Board  of  Missions  which  you 
have  been  pleased  to  send  us. 

We  should  always  esteem  any  personal  conference  with  your¬ 
selves  as  highly  agreeable  and  honorable  to  us. 

We  perceive  but  one  resolution,  viz  :  the  third  in  your  letter, 
that  particularly  concerns  ourselves  in  an  official  relation,  and 
inasmuch  as,  in  our  view,  our  present  and  actual  relations  are  en¬ 
tirely  harmonious,  and  we  are  unaware  of  any  point  of  duty  com¬ 
mitted  to  us  which  requires  adjustment  in  order  to  render  it  har¬ 
monious  with  the  duty  and  responsibilities  of  the  Domestic  Com¬ 
mittee,  or  the  Board  of  Missions,  we  have  nothing,  as  a  Commit¬ 
tee,  to  suggest,  but  the  cultivation  and  maintenance  of  the  same 
friendly  feeling,  which  has  prompted  the  resolutions  we  have  re¬ 
ceived  from  you. 

At  the  same  time,  if  there  be  any  subject  connected  with  the 
work  assigned  to  us,  which  the  Domestic  Committee  desire  to 
suggest,  we  shall  feel  it  equally  our  pleasure  and  our.  duty  to  give 
every  communication  from  them  the  most  respectful  and  deliberate 
consideration. 


1861.] 


Obituary  Notices ,  $fc. 


617 


We  reciprocate  with  great  satisfaction  the  expressions  of  your 
letter,  assuring  you  in  our  turn  that  on’our  own  part  “there  exists 
the  most  honest  desire  to  do  all  we  can  to  further  your  efforts  for 
spreading  the  Gospel  of  Christ,”  and  we.  shall  rejoice  in  every 
way  within  our  appointed  duty  to  make  this  desire  manifest  and 
operative. 

We  are,  gentlemen,  with  sincere  Christian  affection,  your 
friends  and  brethren, 

(Signed.)  Rev.  Henry  Anthon,  D.D. ;  Rev.  E.  H.  Canfield, 
D.D. ;  Rev.  Lot  Jones,  D.D.;  Rev.  Stephen  H.  Tyng,  D.D.  ; 
Rev.  Frederick  S.  Wiley;  Rev.  H.  Dyer,  D.D. ;  E.  W,  Dunham, 
Esq.  ;  Fred.  G.  Foster,  Esq.  ;  Fred.  T.  Feet,  Esq.  ;  Horace  Web¬ 
ster,  L.L.D. 


< ©tutuarg  Kottcts* 


Died,  at  Pawley’s,  St.  John’s  Berkley,  on  the  13th  Dec.,  ANN  HUME,  elder 
daughter  of  Lewis  and  Ann  VV.  Simons,  aged  9  years  and  28  days. 

Died,  on  the  24th  of  Dec.,  at  Pawley’s,  FRANCIS  WARING,  eldest  son  of 
Lewis  and  Ann  W.  Simons,  aged  7  years,  8  months  and  4  days. 

Died,  at  Buck  Hall.  St-  John’s,  on  the  10th  January,  HORRY  DEAS,  infant 
of  Lewis  and  Ann  W.  Simons,  aged  2  months  and  24  days. 

Interesting,  cheerful,  and  lovely,  their  removal  has  sadly  clouded  a  once 
happy  home  in  which  they  were  most  fondly  aud  affectionately  cherished,  and 
we  feel  language  inadequate  to  express  the  depth  of  our  sympathy  for  the 
parents  so  repeatedly  and  severely  afflicted.  *May  they  be  visited  by  the  heal¬ 
ing  hand  of  Him,  who  has  wounded,  and  may  their  gloom  be  brightened  by 
hopes  of  a  blissful  reuuion. 

These  precious  and  cherished  little  ones  were,  by  baptism,  early  made 
“members  of  Christ,  children  of  God,  and  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven/ 
and  planted  thus  in  the  House  of  the  Lord  ;  they  have  been  called  while  yet 
in  their  childhood’s  purity,  to  bloom  in  the  courts  of  their  God,  and  realize  the 
bliss  of  that  bright  inheritance  then  promised  for  Jesus’  sake.  , 

“My  Lord  has  need  of  these  flowrets  gay, 

The  Reaper  said,  and  smiled. 

Dear  tokens  of  the  earth  are  they 
Where  He  was  once  a  child. 

They  shall  all  bloom  in  fields  of  light 
Transplanted  by  My  care, 

And  saints  upon  their  garments  white, 

These  sacred  blossoms  wear. 

And  the  parents  gave  in  tears  and  pain 
The  flowers  they  most  did  love  ; 

They  knew  they  should  find  them  all  again 
In  the  fields  of  light  above. 

O.  not  in  cruelty,  not  in  wrath. 

The  Reaper  came  that  day, 

’Twas  an  angel  visited  the  green  earth, 

And  took  the  flowers  away.” 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

The  undersigned  acknowledges  very  gratefully,  from  Upper  St.  John's,  thro' 
the  Rev.  J.  Roberts  Johnson,  the  sum  of  thirty-five  dollars,  for  Grace  Church, 
Anderson.  B.  JOHNSON,  Missionary. 

January  25th,  1861. 

The  undersigned  thankfully  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  the  following- 
sums,  to  aid  in  purchasing  a  Bell,  for  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  ,  UnionvilleJ 
From  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Roberts,  $5;  from  Rev.  W.  O.  Prentiss,  $5;  from 
Rev.  C.  F.  Jones,  D.  D.  $2  ;  from  Rev.  M,H.  Lance,  $5. 

Unionville,  January  22,  1860.  J.  D.  M‘Coll6u6h.  Missionary. 


CIS 


A  clcnowledgemcnts. 


IlKNRY  TrksCOT,  Esq.,  Agent  for  Foreign  Missions,  reports  as  follows: — 


1860. 

Dee.  13.  From  All  Saints,  Waccamaw,  for  African  Mission,  $10  00 
14.  St.  Philip's  Church,  general,  50  00 

1861.  Jan.  10.  “  Miss  Huard's  Class,  St.  Stephen’s  Chapel,  gen’l.  2  00 

19.  “  Grace  Church,  for  Bishop  Boone,  -  -  101  84 

“  Mr.  Sinkler,  general, .  25  00 


188  84 


J.  K.  Sass,  Esq.,  Receiving  Agent  for  Domestic  Missions,  acknowledges  the 
receipt  of  the  following  sums : 

From  St.  Michael’s  Sunday  School  for  student  at  Nashotah,  -  -  $25  00 

From  St.  Philip’s,  Charleston,  lor  Bishop  Lay,  $25;  for  Bp.  Gregg,  $25,  50  00 
■  “  ’•  for  Rev.  Mr.  J3acon,  Nachitoches,  La.,  10  00 

St  Stephen’s  and  Upper  St.  John’s  from  Chas.  Sinkler,  Esq.,  general,  25  00 

From  Do.,  for  Bishop  Lay, . ---  20  00 

From  Grace  Church,  Camden,  S.  School, for  Indian  Miss’ns  under  Bp.  Lay,  20  00 
From  Prince  Frederick’s,  Peedee,  Hon.  R.  F.  W.  Allston,  for  Bishop  Lay,  50  00 
From  Christ  Church,  Columbia,  for  Bishop  Gregg,  -  -  -  -  25  00 

From  St.  Peter’s,  Charleston,  for  Sell  wood  fund,  -  -  -  -  75  00 


$295  00 


DIOCESAN  CHARITIES. 

From  a  Lady  for  Theological  Seminary,  Camden,  to  be  applied  as  the 

Rev.  T.  F.  Davis,  jr.,  may  think  best, . $50  00 

From  St.  Michael’s  Working  Society,  second  payment  towards  the 

endowment  of  the  Theological  Seminary, .  100  00 

From  St.  Phillip’s,  Charleston,  for  Diocesan  Missions,  -  -  -  25  00 

From  St.  Stephen’s  and  Upper  Srt  John’s,  from  Charles  Sinkler,  Esq., 

for  Diocesan  Missions,  -  - .  100  00 


$275  00 


The  Treasurer  of  The  Church  Home,  acknowledges  the  following  receipts 
for  January,  viz  :  — 

Board  of  an  Inmate,  from  Miss  H.  Pinckney,  -----  $25  00 

Donation  from  Sarah  P.  Smith,  25  00 

Interest  on  G.  K.  Railroad  Stock,  -  -  -  -  -  -  -17  50 

Do.  on  City  6  per  cent.  Stock,  ------  20  75 

Donation  through  Rev.  W.  B- W.  Howe,  -  -  -  10  00 

Do.  from  Rev.  Wm.  Dehon, .  20  00 

Through  Mrs.  T.  .1.  Young,  Subscription  from  Mrs.  Alfred  Huger 
in  advance,  $5  ;  from  D.  E.  Huger,  Teacher’s  salary,  $2  ; 
from  William  Smith,  teacher's  salary,  $2  :  from  Mrs.  T.  J. 

Young,  $5,  donation,  $1,  - . 15  00 

$133  25 

As  the  Treasurer  of  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  he  also  acknowledges  the  receipt  of 
$5,  from  Miss  Martha  W.  Philips,  for  erection  of  a  tablet  ta  the  memory  of 
the  late  Rev.  C,  Wallace. 


The  Administrator  of  the  Estate  of  the  Rev.  C.  Wallace,  acknowledges  the 
receipt  of  Mr.  Joseph  B.  Pyatt’s  subscription  for  the  purchase  of  Wallace  Li¬ 
brary  for  the  Seminary  at  Camden,  $40. 

He  avails  himself  of  this  opportunity  to  state  that  even  after  realising  a  few" 
subscriptions  still  open,  there  will  be  a  deficiency  of  about  $200,  in  the  amount 
expected  to  be  raised  by  sale  of  Library  for  payment  of  debts.  The  period 
for  settling  the  estate  finally  expires  in  March  1861. 

John  E.  Phillips, 
Administrator  Rev.  C.  Wallace, 

Charleston,  Jan.  28,  1861. 

(For  Calendar  see  Cover-) 


